Legislative Revision Research Articles

Abuse of Protected Position? Minority Shareholdings and Restriction of Markets’ Competitiveness in the European Union

In corporate governance minority shareholders deserve particular protection in order to guarantee their rights in the companies’ management and to avoid their passive submission to the majority’s decisions. This article stresses that the protection granted to them could be used as an instrument to circumvent Competition Law. More generally it is argued that participation in companies’ equity, even when it does not grant control over the same companies, can in particular circumstances generate effects restrictive of competition. The article shows that there is a substantial lack of European Courts jurisprudence and that the Commission’s approach to the issue is inconsistent. The article calls for a substantive, systematic and economically based analysis of minority shareholdings by the Commission to guarantee legal certainty, uniformity of interpretation and the resolution of some unexplained structural questions. Furthermore the article calls for a legislative revision of the actual set of Competition rules. There is, in fact, a vacuum legis that needs to be filled because there are some circumstances in which market operations involving minority shareholdings, although outside of the scope of application of both Art.81 and Art.82 and of the Merger Regulation, can generate anticompetitive effects. In the absence of proper normative measures, these situations are ultimately undetectable by the European Competition authorities. These circumstances are described and a possible solution to the mentioned predicaments---in line with the United States approach to the question---is suggested. This article has been shortlisted for the 1st World Competition Young Writers Award.

Abuse of Protected Position? Minority Shareholdings and Restriction of Markets' Competitiveness in the European Union

In corporate governance minority shareholders deserve particular protection in order to guarantee their rights in the companies' management and to avoid their passive submission to the majority's decisions. This article stresses that the protection granted to them could be used as an instrument to circumvent Competition law. More generally it is argued that participation in companies' equity, even when it does not grant control over the same companies, can in particular circumstances generate effects restrictive of competition. The paper shows that there is a substantial lack of European Courts jurisprudence and that the Commission's approach to the issue is inconsistent. The paper calls for a substantive, systematic and economically based analysis of minority shareholdings by the Commission to guarantee legal certainty, uniformity of interpretation and the resolution of some unexplained structural questions. Furthermore the paper calls for a legislative revision of the actual set of Competition rules. There is, in fact, a vacuum legis that needs to be filled because there are some circumstances in which market operations involving minority shareholdings, although outside of the scope of application of both Art.81 and Art.82 and of the Merger Regulation, can generate anticompetitive effects. In the absence of proper normative measures, these situations are ultimately undetectable by the European Competition authorities. These circumstances are described and a possible solution to the mentioned predicaments - in line with the United States approach to the question - is suggested.

Part D ‘Doughnut Hole’ Could Weigh into the Election

Part D ‘Doughnut Hole’ Could Weigh into the Election

1990s: Decade of Change

As market principles took firmer hold in New Zealand public policy in the 1990s, ACC received close scrutiny and passed through three legislative revisions. The idea of opening ACC to competition from private insurance providers was moving up the policy agenda—and was briefly enacted in 1999, prior to a change in government. New management practices within ACC focused attention on cost containment, benefit levels, and experience-rated premiums for employers. This paper, by the current Chair of ACC, summarises the history of formal reviews, administrative changes, and legislative reforms across the decade, including the increasing emphasis on administrative efficiency.

Sustainable regulatory systems: laws, resources, and values

Regulators frequently face difficult economic trade-offs in their decision-making. They must know how to assess the effects of policies on stakeholders under conditions of imperfect information. Part of the art of regulation revolves around understanding the linkages between choice of market structure, design of regulatory rules, and institutional requirements. In addition, different aspects of sector performance will be prioritized depending on the nation's level of development. Three factors determine the effectiveness of independent regulatory commissions during periods of change. 1. Resources available to the organization are generally determined by the legal instrument that brought the agency into existence. Budgets require funding mechanisms and procedures promoting accountability. Resource levels and resource mix (such as the percentage of highly motivated professionals) determine the range of activities suitable for the organization. 2. The legal mandate is interpreted by the courts. Since the law itself is often the product of political compromise, initial legislation may be inadequate for the effective performance of agency duties. Agency initiatives can precede formal legislative revisions, but these are likely to be challenged by some stakeholders. 3. The values or principles supporting the agency are derived from the national culture and a shared political vision. At the birth of the agency, leaders and key professional staff may not have reached consensus regarding priorities. Agreement on fundamental principles is essential if the agency is to develop a consistent set of policies.

Legislating Social Change in an Islamic Society-Indonesia's Marriage Law

In 1974 Indonesia, the world's most populace Islamic country, passed a National Marriage Act,1 the first legislative revision of the country's marriage and divorce law. Prior to the passage of the law, the marriage and divorce of Indonesia's majority Muslim population was governed exclusively by the unamended rules of Islamic law. Although a statute passed in 1946 required registration of marriages, reconciliations, and divorces, prior to 1974 there had been no legislative interference with the substance of Islamic marriage rules. Among the government's purposes in proposing marriage legislation were limiting arbitrary divorce and polygamy and eliminating or reducing child marriage.2 To accomplish those objectives the Act restricted a Muslim husband's power unilaterally to repudiate his wife or to take a second wife by requiring judicial approval and statutory grounds for both divorce and polygamy. The Act also required that marriage be based on the consent of the parties, that persons marrying under the age of 21 have parental consent to marry, and imposed a minimum marriage age of 16 for girls and 19 for boys.

The effects of legislative reform on civil commitment admission rates: A critical analysis

AbstractMany jurisdictions across North America have revised their statutes pertaining to the criteria for civil commitment with the legislative intent to either increase or decrease the use of involuntary hospitalization. The impact of these revised statutes has been examined in many jurisdictions, but there has been no consensus regarding their effectiveness in changing the rates of involuntary admissions. The present article reviews the literature from a methodological perspective, comparing the differing analyses, results and interpretations. When the legislative revision has sought to expand medical prerogative, results indicate a sustained increase in civil commitments. When legislation has aimed at limiting medical discretion, there was an immediate decline in civil commitment rates, but a subsequent increase in the period following the initial post‐reform declines. These results are discussed in terms of readmission trends, deinstitutionalization, and the possible reaction of mental health professionals who perceive legislation as an unnecessary constraint in the treatment of the mentally ill.

Appeals from Juvenile Courts

This article points out the desirability of appellate review of juvenile court dispositions, noting that uniformity of practice in any jurisdiction can hardly be achieved in the absence of ap pellate decisions because of the incompleteness of the typical ju venile court act. The author discusses the need for stenographic transcripts of juvenile court hearings and suggests that constitu tional considerations may be involved in decisions on furnishing transcripts. There is a discussion of various methods of provid ing appellate review, including the direct appeal, the two-step approach employing either a referee or a rehearing in the juve nile court, and the extraordinary writs. The scope of appellate review is mentioned, and problems of standing to appeal are considered. In each of these areas the author refers to current law and practice in various states, and attempts evaluation and analysis. The problems brought to light here could in most in stances be solved by legislative revision.

The Problem of Administering Small Estates

W HEN the head of a household passes away, one concern of his surviving family is quite naturally to obtain with minimum delay such resources as may be available in order to facilitate re-establishing its stability as a social unit. Distribution procedures are subject to considerable variation, however, not only according to the value of the estate but also geographically. Legislative revisions of procedure occur from time to time, based on the admixture in different degrees of such factors as efficiency and general progress. Study of existing legislation and of trends suggests that increasing attention is being paid to extending aid to dependents confronted with the necessity of seeking new sources of income for sustenance and for the school-

Regular Rate and the Bay Ridge Case: A Guide to Legislative Revision

Regular Rate and the Bay Ridge Case: A Guide to Legislative Revision

Legislative Procedure at Athens - K. M. T. Atkinson: Athenian Legislative Procedure and Revision of Laws. (From the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Vol. 23, No. 1.) Pp. 46. Manchester: University Press, 1939. Paper, 2s.

Legislative Procedure at Athens - K. M. T. Atkinson: Athenian Legislative Procedure and Revision of Laws. (From the <i>Bulletin of the John Rylands Library</i>, Vol. 23, No. 1.) Pp. 46. Manchester: University Press, 1939. Paper, 2s.

Statutory Fees of Trustees. Proposed Legislative Revision in New York

Statutory Fees of Trustees. Proposed Legislative Revision in New York

Tennessee's Fisheries Program

Abstract In January, 1938, the Game and Fish Division embarked upon an intensive fisheries program. At the present time, we are able to point to a few specific projects which have been started, and to indicate the probable course of development of the program for the coming year. Only one project, the compilation of the commercial fisheries statistics for the period, 1931 to June 1, 1938, has been completed. Projects now under way include, stream and lake surveys, pollution studies, creel census, growth-rate studies, commercial fish-yield statistics, and maintenance of stream-improvement structures. Plans are under way for the development of a commercial fishery under immediate supervision of the State, for legislative revisions to give better protection to game and commercial fishes, and for the publication of a popular illustrated booklet giving the correct common names of the more important species of fish. Formal application blanks have been devised for the fish-distribution work, and a record is bein...