Volume 6, Issue 1 -

This article provides a legal analysis of microtrade from the perspective of international economic law with the introduction of the basic concept and the mechanism of microtrade. The article analyzes whether the proposed microtrade scheme complies with relevant rules of international trade under the GATT/WTO system. The article also discusses the facilitation of microtrade through government procurement in the context of Aid for Trade and examines the applicability of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, which has been recently amended, to microtrade with consideration to potential legal implications.

This article investigates the impact of non-state legal institutions on crime by exploiting differences in pre-colonial legal institutions. In relation to criminal law, it is suggested that colonisation can be best characterised as the imposition of almost identical criminal law on a diverse set of pre-existing legal institutions; in this sense, this analysis inverts the legal origins and institutions literature. Given that remnants of pre-colonial institutions persist, it is suggested that the type of pre-colonial legal institution should have a direct effect on state crime control and the crime rate. This is so, as societies that were relatively stateless prior to colonisation are more likely to have high magnitude non-state sanctions that can act as substitutes for state punishments, but the presence of such non-state legal institutions also reduces the productivity of state enforcement, contributing to an overall increase in crime. This is tested using a measure for pre-colonial institutions on a dataset of 86 post-colonial states. Private enforcement of high magnitude punishments, despite the deterrent effect, results in a net increase in crime.

The paper describes the evolution of legal ideas underlying authoritative discourse used as grounds for changes in economic policy in Brazil. It examines the role of legal ideas in the shaping of policy since the rise of enlarged administrative power in the nineteenth century to the emergence of the developmentalist state in the 1930s, to pro-market reforms of the mid-1990s and early twenty-first century. A description of the contrasts between three major clusters of legal ideas is offered, covering: imported French-style legal doctrinalism in the “classical liberal” era (1850–1930), changes introduced by the administrative law of the “old developmentalism” (1930–1980), and imported Anglo-Saxon legal and economic concepts of the pro-market reforms phase (1990–2000).

This article explores the relationship between property rights and economic performance. Property rights, or more precisely, formal, individualized property rights, have long been regarded as the fundamental precondition for sustainable economic growth. However, the available empirical evidence shows that formal private ownership fails to bring about desirable economic outcomes in most developing countries despite the advantages claimed by numerous economists and lawyers. This puzzle can be addressed by taking into consideration such factors as the functioning of related markets, the influence of social norms, and the role of the state.

This article revisits the decades-long trade–sustainable development debate in the context of Rio+20 and its endorsement of green economy policy. It aims to grapple with the possible linkages between LDCs’ market access regime and the concept of sustainable development itself. Conflicting perceptions of developed and least developed country (LDC) members of the WTO as to the conceptual basis of sustainable development, this article argues, explain the challenges LDCs face in the form of impediments to their market access. By examining the specific market access issues, this article reveals how developed countries’ concerns for sustainable development turn out to be market access barriers for LDCs. As the call for transition to green economy could exacerbate some of these concerns of LDCs, the article suggests a common ground, where a balanced trading regime can be most productively envisioned through a reasoned discourse of market access for LDCs linked with a conceptual route of sustainable development.

Iraq is often cited as a test case as to whether “nation-building” can work. Since 2003, the U.S. government has been advancing institutional capacity development with Iraq’s national government. Now 10 years later, it is clear that the program, the largest such as U.S. government program since the Vietnam War, has been a success. Tangible durable institutional reforms are now in place to professionalize the civil service, improve electricity production, make public procurement more transparent and efficient, and upgrade budget formulation and execution. The program, known locally as USAID/Tatweer, worked across executive branch agencies, to improve government performance and expand institutional capacity development. Its accomplishments, so far almost entirely unrecognized by the media, will continue to advance democratic change in Iraq for generations to come.