International Regulatory Regime Research Articles

International Law and Regulation of Marine Microplastics: Current Situation, Problems, and Development

The severe global hazards posed by marine microplastics must be given attention. This study evaluated the current international legal framework, and offers forward-looking recommendations for enhancing international law. The analysis began by examining the unique characteristics and profound impacts of marine microplastics, underscoring the necessity of a corresponding international regulatory regime. Through a thorough review of the existing global and regional legal instruments—both soft and hard laws—we identified key issues and challenges in the international legal response to marine microplastics, particularly in terms of legislation and enforcement mechanisms. The study emphasizes the urgent need for strengthened international legislation, including the potential development of a specialized international treaty, and calls for the enhancement of compliance mechanisms to effectively combat marine microplastic pollution and support the broader goal of sustainable development.

Freedom of Research Creativity as a Factor in Ensuring Russia’s Technological Sovereignty

The purpose of the article is to analyze the possibilities for the fullest possible implementation of the provision on freedom of research creativity enshrined in Part 1 of Article 44 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Freedom of academic creativity is considered as one of the most important factors in ensuring the technological sovereignty of Russia. It is not given due attention by government authorities. From these standpoints, the author substantiates the thesis that freedom of scholarly creativity presupposes such an interpretation of the right to science, which includes, among other things, the obligation of the state to promote the development of science. Based on the method of legal and dogmatic interpretation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, some directions for developing the right to science and filling it with specific legal content are determined. The idea of adopting a special code of laws on science as well as research and technological activities is substantiated. It would turn all legal regulations of this area into a single internally consistent framework. Special attention is paid to the role of international regulatory regimes of “soft law” as a factor influencing the research and technological policy of Russia and the need to take organizational measures for a more active inclusion of Russian researchers in the formation of global, regional and national agendas on relevant issues.

CRISPR futures: Rethinking the politics of genome editing

New genome editing techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9 aspire to automate and standardize laboratory practices of genetic engineering at the molecular scale. They have been promoted as a ‘revolutionary’ means of production, which will revitalize industry, transform agribusiness and adapt it to changing climatic conditions. To realize this vision, a fundamental regulatory shift is now being enacted by multiple national governments around the world from Argentina to Canada, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, China and the European Union. As corporate science is directly in the service of private entities guided by a strict market rationality, while public research is increasingly pushed to prioritize immediate ‘industrial applications’ and the achievement of measurable ‘socio-economic impact’, genomic interventions are mostly geared towards expanding, accelerating and securing the accumulation of capital on a global scale. Structural market demands are embodied in gene-edited bodies produced for commercialization. While the emerging international regulatory regime for gene-edited organisms has been largely shaped by discussions focused on technical questions of health and safety, this tendency indicates the necessity of a wider democratic debate that would include the socio-economic, ethical and ecological concerns recently stressed by indigenous and peasant movements around the world. How will these new GM bodies transform the way people live and work in agricultural lands, industrial facilities, barnyards and slaughterhouses, in biotech labs and medical clinics? How will they affect lived ecologies? What types of multi-species worlds are being constructed through bioengineering practices, by whom and according to what political visions?

Circular Economy and the Changing Geography of International Trade in Plastic Waste.

Plastic pollution has become a major environmental concern worldwide. As the circular economy is increasingly seen as a means for achieving sustainable development, it is imperative to promote the more efficient use of plastics worldwide. An integral part of the circular economy model, trade in waste, and the scrap for recovery is a part of the solution to achieve sustainability. This paper studies the changing geography of the international trade in plastic waste. It reveals increasingly complex patterns of the transboundary trade in plastic waste over more than two decades. The movement of plastic waste from high-income countries to developing nations has been the largest flow, but trade flows of other directions turn out to be significant. The findings of the paper debunk the North-South or core-periphery dichotomy that is embedded in the international environment justice tradition (including the ecologically unequal exchange theory) as well as in international environmental regulatory regimes such as the Basel Convention. The paper contributes to the discussions about value that are central in political economic approaches to global trade (e.g., the global value chain and global production network) by demonstrating the relative, spatial, and dynamic nature of the concept. As the transboundary trade in plastic waste has exacerbated pollution and marine litter in some major receiving countries, it needs to be better monitored and regulated to ensure it is conducted in a transparent and environmentally sound manner. The paper also explores several policy measures that could help tackle the plastic pollution crisis and achieve sustainable development.

Analysing Obstacles and Challenges in Fighting Corruption in Cases of Illegal Investments

Due to existing shortcomings in the system, the suitability and effectiveness of the international investment arbitration regime in addressing corrupt practices in international transactions and investment projects has been frequently questioned. The current legal and regulatory regime presumes that there is a level playing field, i.e., that the parties to an arbitration have equal access to information regarding corrupt actions. However, in practice, bringing claims of corruption in international investment fora meets various obstacles such as evidentiary hurdles and the lack of a specific arbitrators’ mandate. Hence, the focus of this article is on addressing gaps in the international investment arbitration regime dealing with corruption cases. There is increasing concern that the international legal and regulatory regime is inadequate and contains gaps that permit multinational firms to engage in illegal acts involving corruption. Against this backdrop, the main issue that arises is how the international community should respond. This article reviews the gaps in the international investment arbitration regime and then identifies two broad strategies to address the issue of accountability. The first strategy would be to build on and strengthen the existing international investment arbitration regime, which would imply its re-engineering. A second strategy would be to establish a regime providing a new forum and an avenue for dedicated international criminal investigators to be paired with dedicated anticorruption courts that would handle criminal complaints. The Anticorruption Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (APUNCAC) represents an example of the second strategy. The APUNCAC is a model convention that calls for the implementation of a system comprising dedicated international criminal investigators and dedicated anticorruption courts, in addition to a system where plaintiffs could pursue civil class actions and seek treble damages. The APUNCAC represents a more radical strategy for addressing corruption on the international level. In addition, the APUNCAC would also permit civil class actions seeking treble damages. Overall, the APUNCAC would offer claimants an opportunity to pursue their claims in a neutral forum.

DIGTIAL TECHNOLOGIES IN COMBATING GLOBAL CORRUPTION

A transnationalization of corruption practices, born by globalization processes, is one of nowadays negative phenomenon that deserves intensive studying. Digital technologies smooth the pathways for transnational corruption. On the other hand, digitalization also provides tools for building up respective countermeasures. This article examines the potential of digital technologies, primarily artificial intelligence (AI), in preventing corruption practices. Firstly, the characteristics of the «global corruption» phenomenon are outlined. The experience of implementing digital technologies in the corruption countermeasures has been analysed that revealed problems and prospective trends in the development of digital anti-corruption mechanisms at the supra-national level of governance. Digital tools for detecting and tracking of transnational corruption schemes were described in the framework of international journalistic investigations or anti-corruption control technologies in the European Union. One of key factors preventing the effective application of AI against the transnational corruption is the lack of the consolidated international regulatory regime for data evaluation. However, AI is ambivalent for both fighting corruption and creation new corruption pathways. Arguments in support of the distributed ledger technologies as the promising corruption-preventing techniques are provided. The study discloses factors inhibiting the scaling of the implementation of blockchain or smart contracts as mechanisms of reducing the risks of corruption. The need to develop international standards for the use of AI technologies in the fight against corruption practices is emphasized. The creation of a transnational structure with appropriate rule-making and control powers in this area becomes extremely important.

Why do states in conflict with each other also sustain resilient cooperation in international regulation? Britain and telegraphy, 1860s–1914

This article compares the explanatory power of five mainstream theories from International Relations, political science and public management in understanding why – when they are engaged in deepening conflict and tension and even preparations for wars – states might simultaneously sustain deepening cooperation in global regulatory bodies. Analysis of explanatory power focuses on trade-offs among five key methodological virtues, and on buffering as an indicator of state unitariness. The theories are examined against the crucial case of one state’s commitment to the first international regulatory regime, the International Telegraph Union (ITU) and the Submarine Cable Convention (SCC) of 1884, from the founding of the ITU in 1865 to the outbreak of the Great War. In this article, we use UK National Archives files to reconstruct Britain’s decisions in telegraphy policy as our case of a state’s decision-making. We focus on four key clusters of decisions, spanning three sub-periods. The study finds each of the theories can descriptively capture some developments in some sub-periods, but not for the reasons identified in the theory and without generality of application. It therefore provides the basis for future theoretical development work and demonstrates the value of theory comparison by analysis of trade-offs among methodological virtues.

Legal geographies of kava, kastom and indigenous knowledge: Next steps under the Nagoya Protocol

A binding international regulatory regime over access and benefit-sharing relating to biological resources and related traditional (including Indigenous) knowledge was established through the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity 2010 (Nagoya Protocol), which entered into force in October 2014. The Nagoya Protocol encourages country Parties to take into consideration Indigenous and local communities’ customary laws, community protocols and procedures, as applicable, with respect to traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources and encourages support for the creation of community protocols. With a focus on the kava plant (Piper methysticum), this article explores some of the issues associated with implementation of the Nagoya Protocol at state and community scales. We explore concerns around patent activity and the potential impacts upon customary uses of kava especially in Vanuatu. We then consider some of the recent activities and reforms being undertaken in relation to kastom in Vanuatu, which may be of relevance for the development of access and benefit-sharing regimes and for the improved regional protection of Indigenous knowledge.

Private Security, Human Rights and COVID-19: Regulatory Challenges at the Margins

The increasing use of private security by States during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fast outsourcing facilitating that use, raises immediate challenges to the international legal order, and specifically to the protection of human rights, particularly for marginalised groups. It also reinforces existing fundamental questions about future regulation and governance of the private security sector at both the international and national levels. This essay assesses the impacts and consequences of the use of private security companies during the global pandemic by: (1) identifying the challenges for the rule of law due to the use of emergency procurement rules by States to outsource security; (2) highlighting the negative impacts on human rights as a result of using private security during the pandemic, especially for groups marginalised by race, ethnicity, poverty, disability, gender, sexuality or other status; (3) examining the reorientation of services provided by the private security sector towards humanitarian and medically-related activities and the human rights consequences; (4) exposing regulatory weaknesses. It concludes that emergency legislation expediting the use of private security must not become normalized, despite the pandemic, that States and private security companies must pay particular attention to the significant risks of human rights impacts, particularly for marginalized groups, and that the international and national regulatory regimes for private security are of limited effect in current circumstances and require urgent attention.

Cryptocurrencies, national security, crime and terrorism

This study looks at the challenge that cryptocurrencies could pose to national security as it pertains to terrorism. The study begins by untangling what are cryptocurrencies before shifting attention to how criminal use cryptocurrencies and how terrorist could use cryptocurrencies. One of the key issues identified is the lack of an international regulatory regime, including, a definition of what are cryptocurrencies and how one could regulate the sector. By engaging in such research, this study seeks to encourage international society to focus more on cryptocurrencies and develop an effective, binding regulatory regime.

Bank capital, financial stability and Basel regulation in a low interest-rate environment

The current low interest-rate environment poses new challenges to international bank regulation policies. This paper analyzes the role of the Basel regulation in this new context. We study this issue by using a DSGE model with housing and collateral constraints, both on borrowers and banks. Results show that, on the one hand, low interest rates lead to an increase in bank capital, calling for less strict international regulatory regimes. On the other hand, this environment encourages more indebtedness of borrowers, calling for a stricter regulation for macroprudential purposes. An optimal analysis of the countercyclical buffer in Basel III regulation reveals that risks to financial stability outweigh the extra accumulation of bank capital. Thus, the countercyclical buffer should be implemented more aggressively in a low interest-rate world.

Recognising Biodiversity Conservation as a “Common Concern of Mankind”: A Legal Appraisal

By analysing the legal provisions of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Nagoya Protocol, this article focuses on the legal implications of recognising biodiversity conservation as a “common concern of mankind”. In this context, the “common concern” concept clearly involves precise environmental protection, through actions (and addressing resources) that transcend the territorial sovereignty of individual States; establish common responsibilities towards the international community; and develop international regulations and institutions to secure these objectives. When applied in this context, this concept poses a significant legal implication for national sovereignty and the international community. It restricts sovereignty by requiring States to meet a national-level version of the standard of due diligence, including by adopting laws, and developing strategic plans, as well as entering into partnership with local, indigenous communities, the private sector and international communities for their implementation. It also establishes among the States a “common but differentiated responsibility” towards the entire international community – a duty to cooperate and collaborate for the conservation of biodiversity. These legal implications have been subject to legal debates and challenges, especially when they require the setting of standards of due diligence applicable to all States and most particularly with regard to commitments they have made regarding technical and financial cooperation. It is clearly quite difficult to enforce such legal obligations precisely, particularly under the CBD’s regulatory regime. To uphold the “common concern” approach, all nations will need to participate and to accept both their respective differentiated responsibilities and the restrictions that this approach imposes on national sovereignty. The international regulatory regime also needs to develop a new compliance technique and enforcement mechanism. Such global responses and efforts are indispensable for sustaining life on earth.

How Do Different Types of Local Governments' Sustainability Programs Relate to Their Environmental Outcomes

Local governments worldwide have developed a suite of sustainability programs to improve environmental conditions within their jurisdictions. However, critics suggest that local governments' sustainability programs are more symbolic than substantial in that they are often developed to create the appearance of addressing environmental issues rather than actual environmental performance outcomes. Despite the skeptics, as yet, we have little empirical understanding of the environmental impact of local sustainability programs. This paper bridges the gap by considering how the design of 102 county governments' individual sustainability programs relates to improvement of their ozone quality between 2003 and 2013. After controlling for the spatial dependence of ozone quality among neighboring counties, this paper offers the evidence that local sustainability programs are related to improved environmental conditions. Moreover, the sustainability programs that are designed more comprehensively across environmental issues appear to have greater policy efficacy compared to those focusing on a few environmental issues. These findings provide optimistic views about the local, non‐regulatory policy effort for improving collective environmental quality. This implication is particularly salient given the lack of strong national and international environmental regulatory regimes.

Do Self-Reporting Regimes Matter? Evidence from the Convention Against Torture

AbstractInternational regulatory agreements depend largely on self-reporting for implementation, yet we know almost nothing about whether or how such mechanisms work. We theorize that self-reporting processes provide information for domestic constituencies, with the potential to create pressure for better compliance. Using original data on state reports submitted to the Committee Against Torture, we demonstrate the influence of this process on the pervasiveness of torture and inhumane treatment. We illustrate the power of self-reporting regimes to mobilize domestic politics through evidence of civil society participation in shadow reporting, media attention, and legislative activity around antitorture law and practice. This is the first study to evaluate systematically the effects of self-reporting in the context of a treaty regime on human rights outcomes. Since many international agreements rely predominantly on self-reporting, the results have broad significance for compliance with international regulatory regimes globally.

Benchmarking medium voltage feeders using data envelopment analysis: a case study

Feeder performance evaluation is a key component in improving the power system network. Currently there is no proper method to find the performance of Medium Voltage Feeders (MVF) except the number of feeder failures. Performance benchmarking may be used to identify actual performance of feeders. The results of such benchmarking studies allow the organization to compare feeders with themselves and identify poorly performing feeders. This paper focuses on prominent benchmarking techniques used in international regulatory regime and analyses the applicability to MVFs. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method is selected to analyze the MVFs. Correlation analysis and DEA analysis are carried out on different models and then the base model is selected for the analysis. The relative performance of the 32 MVFs of Western Province, Sri Lanka is evaluated using the DEA. Relative efficiency scores are identified for each feeder. Also the feeders are classified according to the sensitivity analysis. The results indicate that the DEA analysis may be conveniently employed to evaluate the performance of the MVFs. The evaluation is carried out once or twice a year with the MV distribution development plan in order to identify the performance of the feeders and to utilize the available limited resources efficiently.

Power transitions and global trade governance: The impact of a rising China on the export credit regime

AbstractThe existing liberal international economic order was constructed during the era of American hegemony and has been heavily shaped by US power. How is the rise of China affecting global economic governance? This article analyzes the case of export credit, which has long been considered a highly effective international regulatory regime and an important component of global trade governance. I show that the rise of China is profoundly altering the landscape of export credit and undermining its governance arrangements. State‐backed export credit is a key tool of China's development strategy, yet I argue that an explosion in China's use of export credit is eroding the efficacy of existing international rules intended to prevent a competitive spiral of state subsidization via export credit. The case of export credit highlights a fundamental tension between liberal institutions of global governance and the development objectives of emerging powers.

Power Transitions and Global Trade Governance: The Impact of a Rising China on the Export Credit Regime

The existing liberal international economic order was constructed during the era of American hegemony and heavily shaped by US power. How is the rise of China affecting global economic governance? This article analyzes the case of export credit, which has long been considered a highly effective international regulatory regime and an important component of global trade governance. I show that the rise of China is profoundly altering the landscape of export credit and undermining its governance arrangements. State-backed export credit is a key tool of China’s development strategy, yet I argue that an explosion in China’s use of export credit is eroding the efficacy of existing international rules intended to prevent a competitive spiral of state subsidization via export credit. The case of export credit highlights a fundamental tension between liberal institutions of global governance and the development objectives of emerging powers.

BANK PANICS AND FIRE SALES, INSOLVENCY AND ILLIQUIDITY

Banking system crises are complex events that in a short span of time can inflict extensive damage to banks themselves and to the external economy. The crisis literature has so far identified a number of distinct effects or channels that can propagate distress contagiously both directly within the banking network itself and indirectly, between the network and the external economy. These contagious effects, and the potential events that trigger these effects, can explain most aspects of past crises, and are thought to be likely to dominate future financial crises. Since the current international financial regulatory regime based on the Basel III Accord does a good job of ensuring that banks are resilient to such contagion effects taken one at a time, systemic risk theorists increasingly understand that future crises are likely to be dominated by the spillovers between distinct contagion channels. The present paper aims to provide a model for systemic risk that is comprehensive enough to include the important contagion channels identified in the literature. In such a model one can hope to understand the dangerous spillover effects that are expected to dominate future crises. To rein in the number and complexity of the modelling assumptions, two requirements are imposed, neither of which is yet well-known or established in the main stream of systemic risk research. The first, called stock-flow consistency, demands that the financial system follows a rigorous set of rules based on accounting principles. The second requirement, called asset-liability symmetry, implies that every proposed contagion channel has a dual channel obtained by interchanging assets and liabilities, and that these dual channel pairs have a symmetric mathematical representation.

Expansion of nuclear power technology to new countries – SMRs, safety culture issues, and the need for an improved international safety regime

This article reviews the status and prospects of nuclear power around the world and provides a perspective on the need to strengthen national and international safety regimes and bolster nuclear safety culture globally – one prerequisite for a sustained role of the technology in the future. It discusses the prospects in countries that have never deployed nuclear power before but have expressed an interest in adding it to their future national energy mixes. Many of these “newcomer” countries are considering small modular reactor (SMR) designs which hold promise for fitting better into their local electricity systems. Thus, the article considers the technical attributes of these designs and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of SMRs with an emphasis on economics, grid compatibility and most importantly, safety. Attributes of a safety culture are discussed from social and cultural aspects, including topics of good governance and the presence of an independent national regulatory authority. Beyond the need for strong national safety regulations, the article also highlights the need to strengthen the international regulatory regime, if nuclear power is to succeed in achieving the highest levels of safety globally. Finally, the qualities of such a regime are discussed.

Decommissioning – What's the fuss about?

Offshore decommissioning is complex, challenging (both legally and operationally) and costly. With the rise in the number of fields approaching end of life (or economic viability), the interest in decommissioning in and around Australian waters is set to increase in the near to medium future. The lack of established federal laws regulating all aspects of decommissioning opens the door for Australia to show innovative leadership in how best to tackle end of life asset management in the oil and gas sector. Australia’s learning in this area will be aided by the laws of jurisdictions that are better-versed and more experienced in offshore decommissioning, such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Norway. This paper will explore Australia’s current legal framework and the issues faced by Australia in this area. While clear policies and regulations are essential, this does not equate to a single rigid approach. A flexible (but consistent) approach is the ideal. By considering how international regulatory regimes for decommissioning may be adapted to Australia, the paper will propose actions regulators and participants in the industry can take now to prepare for and ride (rather than drown in) the decommissioning wave.