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Abstract: International development law is the branch of international law that deals with the rights and duties of states and other actors in the development process. Its original content was premised on a particular generally accepted understanding of development. Under the pressure of the problems of development that arose during the 1970s and 1980s, this general agreement on the key issues in development disintegrated. As a consequence, the consensus on the content of international development law also began to break down. Today, there are competing idealized views of development that shape the current debate about both development, and the content of international development law. The first view, which can be termed the traditional view, maintains that development is about economic growth. It argues that the challenges of economic development can be distinguished from other social, cultural, environmental and political issues in society, including human rights. The second view, which can be termed the modern view has a holistic understanding of development. It argues that development should be viewed as an integrated process of change that involves economic, social, cultural, political and environmental dimensions. Each of these views leads to a different understanding of the contents of international development law. The traditional and modern views of international development law differ in their understanding of the substantive content of development law, the importance they attach to the principle of sovereignty and in their view of the relationship between national and international law in the law applicable to the development process.
international development law, human rights, development
Abstract: This paper is a comparative study of the independent inspection mechanisms in international financial institutions. These mechanisms, which are an important development in the accountability of international organizations, allow private complainants who believe that they have been harmed or threatened with harm by the failure of these institutions to act in accordance with their own operational rules and procedures to have their complaints investigated by an independent body. The paper is divided into three parts. In the first part I discuss the structure, functions and procedures of the World Bank's Inspection Panel, the International Finance Corporation's Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, the Inter-American Development Banks' Independent Inspection Mechanism, the Asian Development Bank's Accountability Mechanism, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Independent Recourse Mechanism, and the African Development Bank's Independent Review Mechanism. I also briefly discuss analogous mechanisms in the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, the United Nations, and Export Development Canada. The second part of the paper is a comparative analysis of these mechanisms. It compares their structures, functions and procedures and draws some conclusions of general applicability about independent inspection mechanisms. The third part of the paper argues that all international organizations with operational responsibilities need independent inspection mechanisms. It then discusses the principles that should guide the structure, function and procedures of such mechanisms and considers various models that can be adopted for such mechanisms. It ends with a recommendation on the optimal structure for such a mechanism.
Accountability, international financial institutions, affected people, social and environmental responsibility
Abstract: The article describes an innovative approach to educating law students about the legal issues and the role of lawyers in negotiating international business transactions. It is based on our experiences in developing and teaching a course that is built around a semester-long simulation exercise and taught in counterpart classes at two law schools. The students in these classes represent the opposing parties and negotiate a cross-border business transaction involving a joint venture agreement, a licensing agreement and a long-term supply contract. The students, who attend either the American University Washington College of Law or the Centre for Energy Mineral and Petroleum Law and Policy at the Dundee University in Scotland, utilize written communications, video-conferencing and teleconferencing in their negotiations. In the paper we discuss the value the course adds to the education of our students, the challenges and pleasures of teaching the course, the response of students to the innovative approach to teaching, and ways in which the course could be adapted and enriched.
international business transactions, legal education, international economic law
Abstract: This article argues that IMF's current governance arrangements suffer from being non responsive to key stakeholders, lack of accountability, non-representative decision making, lack of transparency, and poorly defined relations with other international organizations. These deficiencies have arisen because the IMF has failed to adapt its decision-making structure and procedures to its changing functions and role in the global economy. They have caused distortions in the IMF's relations with its member states, with non-state actors, and with other international organizations and problems with some of the IMF's interpretations of its articles. The article argues that the IMF cannot perform effectively until it corrects these problems in its governance and these distortions in its relations with its key stakeholders. It also includes a set of short, medium and long term reform proposals that, if adopted by the IMF, would make its decision-making procedures more compatible with its current functions and changed relations with its member states. They will also ensure that the IMF's own governance and decision making arrangements conform to the principle of good governance-transparency, predictability, participation, reasoned decision making, and accountability - that are applicable to all public institutions at both the national and international level.
international organizations, international governance, international administrative law
Abstract: This article argues that the IMF is failing to adequately fulfill its mandate because its decision-making structure and procedures have not adapted to its changing functions and role in the global economy. This results in poor policy decisions and causes distortions in the IMF's relations with its member states, non-state actors, and with other international organizations. It also causes problems with some of the IMF's interpretations of its articles. The article also proposes a set of short, medium and long term reforms that, if adopted by the IMF, would make its decision-making procedures more compatible with its current functions and changed relations with its member states, non-state actors and other international organizations. They would also result in improved policy decisions.
Abstract: This article looks at 3 factors affecting international business - increasing transnational business, environment, and human rights - and their implications for both the practice of and education of international business lawyers.
Abstract: This paper discusses a project designed to address 3 seemingly unconnected problems: 1) How to promote private reconciliation in South Africa, that is reconciliation between black and white South Africans that is independent of the effort to promote reconciliation between the state and those who suffered under apartheid 2) How to involve the South African expatriate community in the process of reconciliation and development in South Africa, and 3) How to mobilize and deliver funding for projects that are both too rich for grant funding because they generate a stream of revenue that can be used to service debts and other financial obligations and too poor for commercial funding either because of the scale of the project or the risk and return profile of the project. The paper describes the innovative funding structure that has been developed to simultaneously address all three of these issues and some of the interesting financial, legal and policy issues that it raises.
development finance, bonds, reconciliation
Abstract: This paper is about the problems with the administrative practices and procedures in the IMF. It argues that currently the IMF lacks administrative practices and procedures that are consistent with the requirements of good governance. There are 2 requirements for such administrative practices and procedures. The first is clearly articulated and publicly available standards that guide IMF staff in their work and that other stakeholders can utilize in measuring the performance of IMF staff. These standards should set out both the substantive and procedural requirements applicable to the operations of the IMF. The second is a mechanism through which IMF staff and management can be held accountable for their failure to comply with the applicable procedures. The paper concludes with recommendations on designing a formal and comprehensive set of operational policies and procedures for the IMG and a call for the IMF to establish and ombudsman to oversee compliance with these operational policies and procedures.
international organizations, international financial institutions, international administrative law
Abstract: While the question of how effectively the IFIs have performed their international economic, financial, social, environmental and developmental responsibilities in their work with these debtor countries has been extensively analyzed and debated, their compliance with their applicable international legal obligations has been less examined. The IFIs' responsibility in this regard, is based on their mandates, as defined in their Articles of Agreements, and general principles of customary international law. Their customary international legal obligations include upholding such principles as pacta sunt servanda and rebus sic stantibus and respecting the sovereignty of their member states.
The thesis of this paper is that, when measured against these legal standards, the IFIs record in dealing with sovereign debtors in difficulty during 1982-2007 is mixed. They made effective use of the principles of pacta sunt servanda and rebus sic stantibus to influence the course of the negotiations between debtor member states and their creditors but were less effective in meeting their responsibility to promote sustainable development and poverty alleviation in their member countries. In addition, the way in which the IFIs have implemented their mandates to achieve these objectives has resulted in significant expansion in the scope of their missions, which has led many to raise concerns about their encroachment into the areas of responsibility of other international organizations and the efficacy and the legitimacy of their roles in the international financial order.
In order to establish this thesis, the paper briefly describes the key IFIs, namely the World Bank Group (WBG or WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and their international legal obligations. It then provides a brief overview of the IFIs' role in the debt crises of their member states over the past 25 years and of their implementation of the applicable international law principles. The final section of the paper evaluates their compliance with their international legal obligations.
Abstract: This article explores the problems with the current arrangements for international financial governance and the prospects for the IMF being sufficiently reformed to play an effective role in future arrangements for international financial governance. It proposes that the G20 initiate a multi-step process of reform.
International Monetary Fund, G20, International Financial Governance
Abstract: This article evaluates the prospects for meaningful reform of the global financial architecture. It begins by looking at the most significant problems with the current architecture. Thereafter it classifies the current reform efforts into three areas -- reforms that in fact have been implemented, reforms that have been proposed but not yet implemented, and reforms that are only under discussion. The paper then evaluates the adequacy of these reform efforts and makes some brief proposals for future reform efforts.
International Financial Governance, International Financial Institutions
Abstract: This is the material for a 4-part on-line course on global financial governance offered by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). The course, which is offered over 4 weeks, is designed to help participants understand international financial governance and the challenges that it faces. Second, it seeks to aid participants in assessing both the impact the current arrangements for international financial governance have on their countries and regions and the options they may have in responding to the challenges this creates for them. The first module provides a general framework for understanding international financial governance. The second module focuses on the institutional arrangements for global financial governance. The third module concentrates on the functions of global financial governance. The final modules considers both current efforts at reforming the existing arrangements for international financial governance.
international financial governance, international financial institutions
Abstract: As is clear from the large number of financial crises that the world has experienced since the 1980s, the current international financial governance arrangements have not always functioned effectively. In fact, at least since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, there has been general agreement that the existing arrangements for international financial governance, often referred to as the “global financial architecture” needs to be reformed. This general agreement led to the formation of the G20 and, in 1999 to the creation of the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) in which financial regulators from the G7 countries and key international organizations meet to share information and coordinate their activities. However, over time, the attention paid to this topic has been inversely proportional to the wellbeing of the global financial system. Consequently, during most of the early years of the millennium, the topic was not high on the international agenda. This began to change as signs that the global political economy could be running into problems began to appear. There was an agreement at the 2006 International Monetary Fund (IMF or Fund) Annual Meeting to reform IMF governance. In 2008, the World Bank Group (the World Bank or the Bank) agreed to create a new seat for an additional African Director, although this has not been implemented. More recently the leadership in the Fund and the Bank each appointed a high level commission to study their governance - the Manuel Committee was appointed by the IMF and the Zedillo Commission by the World Bank. In addition, the G20 summits in 2008 and 2009 devoted considerable attention to reforming key financial governance institutions, in particular the IMF and the FSF, now reconstituted as the Financial Stability Board. These developments suggest that there could be changes in the international financial architecture in the short- to medium-term. This article assesses the actual significance of the reforms that have either recently been implemented or that are under consideration and the potential they might create for further international financial governance reform. In undertaking this evaluation, the article seeks to answer five questions: What standards should we use in assessing the adequacy of any set of arrangements for international financial governance? What are the problems with the current international financial architecture? What, in fact, has been achieved in terms of reforming international financial governance? What more can be achieved in the short run? And what more needs to be achieved, over the medium to long term, if we are to eventually have an effectively functioning international financial architecture?
Abstract: This paper argues that the current financial crisis offers the best opportunity for progressive reform in international financial governance in many years. It cautions that developing countries and civil society will only be able to fully exploit this opportunity if they are well prepared and realistic in their expectations. It concludes with a set of recommendations on what reforms developing countries and civil society should promote in the current negotiations about international financial governance.
international financial regulation, international financial governance, international administrative law
Abstract: This paper discusses the likely implications of the financial crisis on Africa and considers what Africa can do to position itself to extract some benefit from the negotiations on international financial governance reform.
international financial governance reform, Africa
Abstract: Sovereignty is the fundamental concept around which international law is presently organized. This principle holds that "except as limited by international law or treaty, each state is the master of its own territory." Consistent with this conception of absolute sovereignty, international law has traditionally been concerned with the relations between co-equal sovereign states. Each sovereign state can only be legally bound by those commitments it willingly makes to other sovereign states, and by those few principles which are viewed as binding on all states. Those issues that arise from the relationship between the state and its citizens, and between those citizens inter se, are viewed as part of the domestic affairs of each sovereign state and thus outside the scope of international law.
NGOs, international conflicts, human rights, peacekeeping
Abstract: The sovereign states that participated in the establishment of the post-Second World War international order had a specific vision of how international organizations should function. This view was based on two premises. The first premise was that the sovereign state was the most significant actor in the international order. Consequently, only states could join and participate in the affairs of the new international organizations. Furthermore, international organizations were limited in their ability to interfere in the internal affairs of their member states.
MDB charters, international law, economic value, human rights
Abstract: This paper focuses on the problem of addressing historical injustices and raising finance for small scale revenue generating projects that benefit those victims of these past injustices who still lack access to jobs, services and opportunities. These projects always experience funding problems. They are considered both "too rich" for grant funding because they generate a stream of revenues but "too poor" for commercial funding because either they are too small or they generate an insufficient income stream to be attractive to commercial funders. In proposing a debt-based solution to these funding problems, the paper proposes 3 principles of "reconciliation financing".
Abstract: In this article, I argue that the protagonists in the sometimes bitter debate about dams that resulted in the establishment of the World Commission on Dams share common perceptions about development decision-making with the protagonists in the debates that have occurred at the local, national, and international level about such issues as natural resource and infrastructure projects, corporate relocations, globalization, and global governance. In this context, 'development decision-making' means the way in which individuals, groups and institutions decide to adopt and then implement policies, programs, and projects that affect the evolution of their own and/or other's social and physical environments. I contend that the views of these protagonists can be divided into two basic visions of development. I call these the traditional and the modern views of development decision-making. These views differ in their understanding of the relationship between the economic, social, political, cultural, and economic aspects of development and of the way in which decisions about development policies and programs should be made. The traditional view sees development as primarily an economic process whose outputs are discrete projects and policies that are designed to achieve the highest possible level of economic growth. The modern view, on the other hand, views development as a socially, economically, politically, culturally, and environmentally integrated process. The paper explores the implications that follow from these different views of development for decision-making about development. The Report of the World Commission of Dams is an important event in this debate over development decision-making because it is possibly the first systematic effort to develop an approach to decision-making that is explicitly based on international human rights and environmental principles, as enunciated in the key international human rights conventions and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The paper describes the WCD's approach to decision-making and explores some of the issues that it raises. The paper ends with a discussion of some issues that are left unresolved but that are of great relevance to the debate over development decision-making.
Abstract: International development law deals with the rights and duties of states and other actors in the development process. As the consensus view of the development process disintegrated during the 1970s and 1980s, the agreement on the content of international development law also began to break down. Today there are two competing idealized views of development. The first, the traditional view, maintains that development is about economic growth, which can be distinguished from other social, cultural, environmental, and political development issues in society. The second, the modern view, maintains that development is an integrated process of change involving intertwined economic, social, cultural, political, and environmental dimensions. These two views of development lead to different perceptions of the substantive content of international development law, of the importance of sovereignty, and of the relationship between national and international law in the law applicable to development.
Development, environment, foreign investment, globalization, human rights, international development law, international economic law, international financial institutions, nongovernmental organizations, project, transnational corporations
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