Volume 5, Issue 1

Transforming a pluralistic tenure system into unified statutory rights has been a major objective of the development of property law in many developing countries. Many law and development scholars have assumed that unified land rights are a pre-condition to development and that a pluralistic tenure land system is a major source of uncertainty and insecurity. This article challenges this commonly held assumption by way of a case study of Indonesia's effort to unify the laws governing land. The author demonstrates that the unification of land law in Indonesia has not resulted in certainty and security of tenure. Instead, this process has been adversely affected by an imprecise private law system, and an inadequate administrative/public law system which has created even more forms of pluralism. The resultant effect of this process is the creation of multiple legal orders governing the current land affairs in Indonesia, such as a formal system, a customary system and a "semi-formal" system.

This article argues that the Chinese state has more highly articulated policies to deal with social disturbance than previously recognized by specialists. It does so by highlighting and critically analyzing the policies followed to improve the opportunities for migrant worker representation. The state has adopted a three-pronged policy. It has improved migrant worker rights, encouraged the official unions to help enforce these rights and allowed NGOs to offer certain services. The official unions are encouraged to adopt a legal watchdog role by a combination of legislation and limited external organizational competition. We argue that the dynamic of organizational competition is a previously unrecognized factor in moving China in a 'socialist corporatist' direction.

There is largely a consensus that the policy goal of the broadcasting law is to maintain plurality. However, the approach to achieve this goal has been the subject of controversies in many countries, especially since the United States adopted the market-oriented approach. On the other hand, a question about how effectively the system works to achieve the goal under the adopted approach has been largely neglected. This paper argues that this issue can be analyzed by focusing on the agency problem within broadcasting entities and analyzes the recent attempts of regulatory reforms in Japan as a case study. The analysis shows that the Japanese regulator is confusingly swaying between strengthening of the regulation and liberalizing in reliance on market discipline.

The global financial system experienced its first systemic crisis since the 1930s in autumn 2008, with the failure of major financial institutions in the United States and Europe and the seizure of global credit markets. Although Hong Kong was not at the epicentre of this crisis, it was nonetheless affected. Following an overview of Hong Kong's existing financial regulatory framework, the article discusses the global financial crisis and its impact in Hong Kong, as well as regulatory responses to date. From this basis, the article discusses recommendations for reforms in Hong Kong to address weaknesses highlighted by the crisis, focusing on issues relating to Lehman Brothers "Minibonds." The article concludes by looking forward, recommending that the crisis be taken not only as the catalyst to resolve existing weaknesses but also to strengthen and enhance Hong Kong's role and competitiveness as China's premier international financial centre.

Eschewing theoretical discussion of both “secularism” and the “Islamic state,” this article instead examines situated understandings of these ideas as they emerge in contests about the place of religion in Malaysian law, politics and society, paying particular attention to the views of Malaysian legal professionals. It examines the official positions taken by the peak professional legal organisation (the Malaysian Bar Council) speaking on behalf of its professional constituents and to a wider constituency of Malaysia citizens in order to examine how the organised Bar has used its prestige and expertise to explain and clarify the legal aspects of these issues to the general public and how it has attempted to use its privileged status to foster informed discussion about law reform.

This article seeks to examine the constitutional and legal aspects of Malaysia’s election laws (within its first-past-the-post electoral system) seen within the broader socio-political context of Malaysia’s plural society and ethnic-based political representation to evaluate if they conform to democratic principles and equitable standards. In particular, this article seeks to: (i) explore how the growth of the dominant political elite has had direct implications for the development of Malaysia’s electoral regime and arrangements for the holding of democratic elections; (ii) survey the implementation and enforcement of the election laws, including the Elections Act, Election Offences Act, Election Commission Act, Election Petition Rules and Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations; (iii) examine the need of immunity for the Election Commission; (iv) examine the role of the judiciary; and (v) highlight the areas for urgent electoral reforms to restore public confidence in the electoral system and ensure the legitimacy of the political system.