Category Archives: Law and Development
Jorge Esquirol, ‘GIs, Private Law, and Development’
The symposium on ‘GIs, Private Law, and Development’ was held at FIU Law on April 4-5, 2025. It brought together scholars from around the world to discuss the potential of private law reform to advance economic policy objectives. Our approach was to examine currently existing and new proposals for configuring private property, geographical indications, and […]
Takala and Häyry, ‘Justainability’
ABSTRACT Sustainability, properly understood, is an existential moral ideal. The United Nations, however, defines it in terms of 17 indivisible sustainable development goals. This definition changes the core idea of the concept. It turns sustainability from a moral ideal into a set of economy-based political aspirations. The European Union’s bioeconomy strategy demonstrates the shift aptly […]
David Finnegan, ‘The Numerus Clausus Principle and Land Law in Africa’
ABSTRACT This article employs a traditional comparative law concept, the numerus clausus principle, to assess the state of land law in Africa using Tanzania as a case study. The numerus clausus principle is observed in both civil law and common law systems, either expressly in national legislation or implicitly in patterns of land rights enforcement. […]
Lora, Benítez-Rueda and Rueda-Sanz, ‘Property Informality and Its Effect on Rural Land Prices in Colombia’
ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of property informality on rural land prices in Colombia. It utilizes data for 16 land size categories for a fifth of Colombia’s municipalities. It employs the Gaussian copula approach to overcome endogeneity issues. The main finding is that an exogenous variation of property informality significantly reduces rural land prices […]
Christophe Geiger, ‘Designing an Ethical and Sustainable Intellectual Property System: An Introduction’
ABSTRACT Growing concerns for the environment and the quest for sustainable development have recently prompted a general reflection at the national, European and international levels on the effects of technology, and innovation more broadly, on present and future generations and the world we are living in. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United […]
‘Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Africa’
Recall, on 14 October 2024, we invited submissions to the Journal of Sustainable Development and Policy for a special issue focusing on ‘Private International Law and Sustainable Development in Africa’. Make today matter! Under this motto, legal scholars from all over the world gathered at the University of Pretoria on July 8, 2025 to take […]
Kukhariev, Kostiuchenko and Krasytska, ‘Reforming Ukraine’s Civil Legislation as a Tool for Economic Recovery and Ensuring Sustainable Development in the Post-War Period’
ABSTRACT The post-war reconstruction of Ukraine necessitates two principal components: the large-scale physical rebuilding of destroyed infrastructure and the implementation of deep structural reforms. Among these reforms, the transformation of civil legislation is of particular significance. The effective regulation of property and contractual legal relations is a necessary prerequisite for the restoration of entrepreneurial activity, […]
Barna Arnold Keserű, ‘Key Concepts on Intellectual Property Rights and Sustainable Development’
ABSTRACT This article explores the intricate relationship between Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and Sustainable Development, emphasizing the need for legal frameworks to adapt to global challenges. The author, Barna Arnold Keserű, argues that while human creativity has led to remarkable achievements, it has also caused significant environmental and societal harm. The concept of sustainable development, […]
Duncan Wallace, ‘The Reality of Shareholder Ownership: For-profit Corporations as Slaves’
ABSTRACT What is the relationship between shareholders and the corporation? The present scholarly consensus is that, whatever the relationship is, it is not one of owner and owned. This article contests that consensus. It argues that corporations are owned by their shareholders and, further, that corporations so-owned are slaves. In support of this contention, the […]
Silvie Rohr, ‘Corporate Purpose: A Management Concept and the Role of Contract Design’
ABSTRACT In light of systemic crises such as global warming and human rights violations in business operations, the call for reevaluating corporate conduct has become more pressing than ever. As these challenges intensify, a growing consensus advocates for a shift away from shareholder profit maximization towards a more holistic stakeholder governance model. Yet, the question […]