Volume 18, Issue 1

Palm oil is a major Indonesian export product, but governmental supervision of plantation corporationsʼ activities on the ground frequently fails, which leads to environmental damage as well as conflict between companies and communities. By employing a socio-legal approach, this study found that the legal framework of the development of oil palm plantations is imprecise, unclear and incomplete and, as a consequence, causes the governmentʼs weakness in supervising oil palm plantation operations. We discovered three main causes of this incompleteness of law in supervising oil palm plantations: the delay in establishing the implementing regulations, the absence of sanctions in case of non-compliance, and the use of imprecise words, and complex terms and language. In addressing such incompleteness, this study suggests drafting more detailed rules to minimize delegation to lower regulations, using more precise terms and concepts, and considering sanctions for officials who do not carry out their obligations. Furthermore, discretion can be an alternative to overcome the existing legal incompleteness in supervising oil palm plantation operations.

Democratic police reform (DPR) is a type of institutional reform that aims to make polices compatible with democratic political regimes. Though distinct approaches have been attempted in distinct contextual circumstances, promoting DPR has proven remarkably difficult. Successful cases are hard to find; across the globe, DPR efforts have had unsatisfactory outcomes, amounting to little or no sustainable change in dysfunctional police forces. What explains this systematic failure of DPR? Existing research has focused on determining the sociopolitical circumstances and/or reform methods that correlate with positive or negative DPR outcomes. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding how DPR fails – that is, the processes through which the above-mentioned variables interact with the police’s organizational environments, rules, and resistance mechanisms to produce unsatisfactory outcomes/failed reform. This paper proposes that an analytical framework based on law and development scholarship can help police reform scholars address these gaps. To develop this argument, I review and discuss existing theorizations on DPR failure, demonstrating the potential contributions of a law and development perspective. I suggest that a framework based on this perspective nuances existing approaches by emphasizing the contentious processes surrounding reform enactment and implementation. Unpacking these processes can represent a new research agenda for police reform scholarship.

Sustainable development constitutes a catch phrase for integrated and inclusive development more so in Africa that is battling with development challenges. Despite its legitimization at the highest institutional level, a principal impediment encountered in the concretization of sustainable development principles (environmental, social and economic) in Africa remains the enforcement conundrum. The situation is compounded by indifference of the state and non-state actors. Cases of environmental damage, social malpractices and economic marginalization in the execution of trade and investment policies are largely treated with levity, with prioritization accorded to financial accruals over disciplining delinquent behaviour. Consequently, the emergence of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) with provisions on sustainable development renews hope for the concretization of the sustainable development principles in Africa. A crystallization of effective enforcement of sustainable development principles is deeply intertwined with an existence of an effective peer-review mechanism with a network of reporting linkages. Arguably, effective peer review system is fundamental to assessment of state of play, investigation of violations, collation of reports, and institutional strengthening to change the dynamics in favour of improved performance.

Recovering stolen assets through non-conviction based forfeiture is one of eight avenues for asset recovery due to corruption outlined in the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Implementing legislative measures to confiscate criminal property through non-conviction based forfeiture is among the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force. Vietnam formally signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption in 2003 and, while holding an associate membership status in the Financial Action Task Force, Vietnamese legislation lacks provisions enabling the application of this measure. The magnitude of financial and asset losses attributable to corruption remains substantial, rendering existing legal mechanisms ineffectual. Limited success of asset recovery through criminal judgments were taken into account nonetheless, the current national situation calls for more stringent and emergent practices. Grounded in understanding the efficacy of non-conviction based asset recovery mechanisms, this research paper underscores the necessity for Vietnamese law to incorporate such provisions to combat corrupt practices and proposes actionable recommendations for its adoption. The study seeks to enhance Vietnam’s legal framework concerning asset recovery methodologies for more favorable outcomes in the future. Furthermore, it aims to serve as a credible resource for the global academic community, shedding light on Vietnam’s legal landscape and anti-corruption efforts. The findings of this study also benefit developing nations, particularly those in the process of formulating regulations about non-conviction based asset recovery measures.

This article makes the case for developing law and macro-finance as an integrated research field that explores the role of credit and its regulation within the economic cycle. It highlights the importance of macro-financial conditions, such as leverage and liquidity, over traditional concerns like agency costs and efficiency when assessing the economic impact of the law. The article argues that the future of law and macro-finance research should focus on demonstrating (1) how the law operates under different macro-financial conditions, (2) how the law can shape these conditions, and (3) how these conditions influence legal frameworks. This research is partly inspired by, and could also be valuable for, organizations like the World Bank and IMF, which increasingly acknowledge the role of debt in financial crises and are beginning to promote policies that help countries better align the size of their credit markets with their economic needs.

To retract from its overdependence on crude oil fortunes and be a participant in the green energy economy, Nigeria has recently begun to revive and modernize its mining industry. The modernization is driven by the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007 (NMMA) and Regulations promulgated thereunder. This paper examines whether and to what extent the NMMA and the Regulations provide sufficient legal architecture for local communities to meaningfully participate in mineral development decisions and processes in ways that advance the course of their sustainable development. It acknowledges that participation or meaningful consultation with local communities in regard to decisions or activities pertaining to resource development is a modern strategy for ensuring that local communities obtain the benefits of sustainable development and measures the compliance of the NMMA and its Regulations against the standard tools developed under international law. It attributes the human and environmental sustainability crisis in the Niger Delta region to the failure of the Nigerian government to involve the oil host communities early on in the oil development and governance scheme and warns that Nigeria should not repeat the same error as it embarks on modernizing the solid mineral industry.

The Arctic is a region known for its natural resource endowments and challenging climate. However, evidence from elsewhere suggests that human capital development might also be vital to Arctic economic growth. This article explores the role human capital plays in economic development in the Arctic through analysis of Arctic regional demographic and economic data. The available data preliminarily suggests that human capital stock growth in Arctic regions – as represented by the population with higher education – correlates more closely with economic growth than growth in the general population. The analysis is less conclusive on physical capital development’s connection to economic development as it is with human capital growth. Based on these findings, the article also highlights Arctic-centered institutions and policies that seek to bolster the Arctic region’s human capital stock.

Globally, between USD 850 to USD 940 billion was allocated for 2021 climate finance. However, a mere 0.01 percent of this was directed towards projects addressing both climate change and women’s rights. Unfortunately, the climate crisis is not gender-neutral. Yet, gender data analysis and the significant role of women in climate action are often overlooked, resulting in critical issues being underrepresented in climate budgets. In today’s data-driven world, gender data assumes a critical role in highlighting women’s significant contributions to climate change, thereby influencing funding decisions. Within this context, the Room 9 sub-group of the “17 Rooms initiative” is currently exploring the potential of data cooperatives to facilitate financing for women’s groups transitioning towards climate-resilient practices. This paper explores the intersection of gender data and climate resilience funding and advocates for improved governance models that ensure accurate, comprehensive, and meaningful representation of gender data in climate funding decision-making processes.