Includes bibliographical references.

This historical study focuses on the multilateral regulation of sugar to provide a broader institutional history of trade law. I argue that theories of development and tensions between the global North and South have always been central to the formation, function, and transformation of international trade institutions. Sugar consistently appears as a commodity throughout the history of modern trade law. The sugar trade provides an immediate way for us to work through larger questions of development, free trade, and economic world order. I examine the 1902 Brussels Sugar Convention, the 1937 International Sugar Agreement (ISA), and the 1977 ISA. These international agreements provide a narrative of the development ideas and concerns that were a central feature of the trade institutions that preceded the World Trade Organization. In the context of the sugar trade over the last century, very few challenged the idea of free trade. Instead, they debated over what free trade meant. The justification for free trade and the function of those international institutions charged to implement trade agreements has changed throughout history. Yet, despite multiple historical and doctrinal definitions of free trade, two dynamics remain consistent: trade law has always been configured by the relationship between policies of tariff reduction and market stabilization and has been defined by the tension between industrial and agricultural interests.

This historical study focuses on the multilateral regulation of sugar to provide a broader institutional history of trade law. I argue that theories of development and tensions between the global North and South have always been central to the formation, function, and transformation of international trade institutions. Sugar consistently appears as a commodity throughout the history of modern trade law. The sugar trade provides an immediate way for us to work through larger questions of development, free trade, and economic world order. I examine the 1902 Brussels Sugar Convention, the 1937 International Sugar Agreement (ISA), and the 1977 ISA. These international agreements provide a narrative of the development ideas and concerns that were a central feature of the trade institutions that preceded the World Trade Organization. In the context of the sugar trade over the last century, very few challenged the idea of free trade. Instead, they debated over what free trade meant. The justification for free trade and the function of those international institutions charged to implement trade agreements has changed throughout history. Yet, despite multiple historical and doctrinal definitions of free trade, two dynamics remain consistent: trade law has always been configured by the relationship between policies of tariff reduction and market stabilization and has been defined by the tension between industrial and agricultural interests.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. L.)--Catholic University of America, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-69).

The subject of this thesis is the operation of corporate insolvency law in post-colonial India. Indian corporate insolvency law has been widely condemned as dysfunctional, critics complaining of extreme delays and a series of associated harms to creditors in the disposal of formal proceedings. Surprisingly little is known, however, about why the law has ‘failed’ creditors in this way - why the law operates as it does. That is the question that motivates this thesis. The thesis reports the results of an in-depth study of the introduction and development of India’s two principal insolvency procedures for corporate debtors: liquidation (under the Companies Act 1956) and rescue (under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act 1985, for industrial companies). The most significant contribution made by the thesis is the reporting of new evidence of the influence of judges on the development of these two insolvency procedures over time, drawn from an original analysis of a large body of Indian case law. This evidence suggests that the role of the courts (or more specifically, the role of judges) has been significantly underestimated in previous attempts to explain the demise of corporate insolvency law in post-colonial India.

A presente dissertação analisa a relação entre direito e experimentalismo institucional por meio de um estudo sobre o surgimento de políticas públicas de capital semente no Brasil. A partir de uma pesquisa empírica sobre a colaboração público-privada na criação e execução de fundos públicos de investimentos em empresas nascentes do BNDES e do trabalho de Mario Schapiro, a pesquisa analisa os arranjos jurídicos que procedimentalizam canais de comunicação entre o Estado e os gestores privados e geram aprendizado institucional para revisão dos arranjos contratuais da política. Ainda, a dissertação apresenta uma resenha da literatura de experimentalismo democrático em especial, Roberto Mangabeira Unger e Charles Sabel e a utiliza para analisar criticamente os arranjos jurídicos dos fundos de capital semente do BNDES, que ainda não garantem formas de accountability e controle social das políticas públicas de capital de risco. Ao analisar a experiência do Fundo Criatec, a dissertação a identifica como um exemplo de inovação institucional do BNDES, dotada de flexibilidade e horizontalidade. Entretanto, conclui-se que tais políticas públicas estão distantes do modelo de experimentalismo democrático e que há novas questões para os juristas brasileiros. Sugere-se que o novo ativismo estatal brasileiro incita uma agenda de sociologia jurídica aplicada. / This dissertation examines the relationship between law and institutional experimentalism through a study of the emergence of seed capital public policies in Brazil. Based on an empirical research about the public-private collaboration in the creation and implementation of the Brazilian Development Banks public investment funds in emerging firms, and the studies of Mario Schapiro, the research examines the legal arrangements that proceduralizes channels of communication between the state and private managers, and generates institutional learning to the revision of the policys contractual arrangements. Still, the dissertation presents a review of the democratic experimentalism literature - in particular, Roberto Mangabeira Unger and Charles Sabel - and uses it to critically examine the legal arrangements of seed capital funds from the BNDES, which do not yet provide forms of accountability and social control on venture capital policies. By analyzing the experience of the Criatec Fund, the dissertation identifies it as an example of institutional innovation in the BNDES, endowed with flexibility and horizontality. However, the research shows that such policies are far from the democratic experimentalism model and that there are new issues for Brazilian legal scholars. Furthermore, it suggests that the new state activism in Brazil encourages an agenda of applied socio-legal studies

<p>Under de senaste decennierna har rättsliga reformer ökat kraftigt. Idag satsas stora summor pengar och mycket tid på området. Ett stort antal organisationer och länder ser idag rättsreformer som något av det viktigaste i utvecklingssamarbeten med länder i tredje världen. Som grund för de flesta av reformerna finns principerna om rättsstaten. Organisationerna och ett stort antal av världens ledare ser rättsstaten som en lösning för olika problem, inte bara rättsliga utan även ekonomiska och politiska. Med rättsstaten menas bland annat att ett lands rättssystem skall vara rättssäkert och effektivt, att det skall råda likhet inför lagen och att ingen skall stå ovanför lagen. Det är dock inte så enkelt att definiera rättsstaten utan den har en mängd olika betydelser.</p><p>Det finns dock idag en skepticism mot hur rättsstatsbegreppet används. Kritiken mot biståndsaktörerna är omfattande och mycket allvarlig. Den riktar sig mot allt från problemen med att definiera rättsstaten, hur rättsstaten används av organisationerna, hur reformerna genomförs och resultaten av dem. Enligt kritikerna gör biståndssamfundet många fel och det är mycket som behöver förändras.</p><p>Redan på 1960-talet genomfördes rättsreformer, fast då i mindre skala än nu. De genomfördes av en rörelse kallad rätt och utvecklingsrörelsen. Den bestod främst av en grupp amerikanska akademiker och jurister, som ville övertala andra om vikten av rättsliga reformer. I mitten av 1970-talet dog dock rörelsen ut efter mycket kritik mot den. Bland annat kritiserades den för att vara etnocentrisk och för att den inte lyckats med vad den föresatts att göra. Om man ser på kritiken mot dagens rättsstatsrörelse liknar den på många sätt kritiken mot rätt och utvecklingsrörelsen. Flera forskare menar därför att dagens rörelse borde ha lärt sig mer av sin föregångares misstag och inte göra alla de fel den gör idag. De tror att det finns risk att rättsstatsrörelsen kommer att dö ut precis som rätt och utvecklingsrörelsen.</p>

Under de senaste decennierna har rättsliga reformer ökat kraftigt. Idag satsas stora summor pengar och mycket tid på området. Ett stort antal organisationer och länder ser idag rättsreformer som något av det viktigaste i utvecklingssamarbeten med länder i tredje världen. Som grund för de flesta av reformerna finns principerna om rättsstaten. Organisationerna och ett stort antal av världens ledare ser rättsstaten som en lösning för olika problem, inte bara rättsliga utan även ekonomiska och politiska. Med rättsstaten menas bland annat att ett lands rättssystem skall vara rättssäkert och effektivt, att det skall råda likhet inför lagen och att ingen skall stå ovanför lagen. Det är dock inte så enkelt att definiera rättsstaten utan den har en mängd olika betydelser. Det finns dock idag en skepticism mot hur rättsstatsbegreppet används. Kritiken mot biståndsaktörerna är omfattande och mycket allvarlig. Den riktar sig mot allt från problemen med att definiera rättsstaten, hur rättsstaten används av organisationerna, hur reformerna genomförs och resultaten av dem. Enligt kritikerna gör biståndssamfundet många fel och det är mycket som behöver förändras. Redan på 1960-talet genomfördes rättsreformer, fast då i mindre skala än nu. De genomfördes av en rörelse kallad rätt och utvecklingsrörelsen. Den bestod främst av en grupp amerikanska akademiker och jurister, som ville övertala andra om vikten av rättsliga reformer. I mitten av 1970-talet dog dock rörelsen ut efter mycket kritik mot den. Bland annat kritiserades den för att vara etnocentrisk och för att den inte lyckats med vad den föresatts att göra. Om man ser på kritiken mot dagens rättsstatsrörelse liknar den på många sätt kritiken mot rätt och utvecklingsrörelsen. Flera forskare menar därför att dagens rörelse borde ha lärt sig mer av sin föregångares misstag och inte göra alla de fel den gör idag. De tror att det finns risk att rättsstatsrörelsen kommer att dö ut precis som rätt och utvecklingsrörelsen.

Decades after the rise and fall of the Law and Development movement, crude theories about the relationship of law to economic development have reappeared in the wake of "transition". Having observed the process of creating laws governing ownership and contracts in Vietnam, the author of this thesis seeks to determine whether the perceived problems exist in reality and whether the "standard legal prescription" for solving them actually works. The official aspect of the legal reforms, i.a. goals and drafting, has been discussed with legislators, officials and other informed people. The response of those meant to benefit from the laws, the actors in the marketplace, has been explored in interviews with businessmen in and around Hanoi. Vietnam's reliance on foreign legal models is pardy a consequence of the absence of effective means for developing viable organic solutions and partly of a reluctant recognition that overseas trade and intercourse necessitate international compatibility. A favoured technique is to single out individual elements of foreign laws that are considered acceptable and appropriate, while rejecting others. Thus, while much of the new legislation appears to be fairly "modern" and "conventional", certain underlying fundamentals have been rejected for fear that they should be carriers of "dangerous" ideas and practices. Most businessmen nevertheless feel safe in the sense that they are not afraid of expropriation or other immediate threats to their existence. The objective factors of law are intertwined with political "moods" and other subjective factors, and those who believe in their ability to correctly interpret these subtle signals have confidence in the future. That many successful businessmen still rely on kinship ties and moral concepts for day-for-day transactions is another reason to doubt the urgency of the need for "Western-style" laws. However, in this case, changes in the expanding marketplace, e.g. more diverse moral concepts, in the wake of expanding trade, alter the relative costs of formality and informality and promote the new Civil Code and Commercial Law as providers of model terms for impersonal transactions. That Vietnamese businessmen consider these laws basically good, but at the same time describe the legal system as a whole as "unattractive", indicates a need for judicial reform incorporating traditional concepts of rule of law. The leadership however is ambivalent. It regards the presence of discretion and corruption as a threat to its authority and appreciates that uniformity is important for state-building purposes, but is not willing to compromise with the Party's leading role in society. The resulting policy, a refined version of "socialist legality" or rule by law, meaning that state organs are bound by legislation and that citizens are assured that their economic rights will be upheld as long as they follow the rules, is inherently untenable and incapable of providing the kind of protection associated with conventional rule of law. / digitalisering@umu