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The object of this research is the reconstruction of the existing legal response by European Union states to the phenomenon of immigration. It seeks to analyse the process of conferral of protection.

One main dimension is selected and discussed: the case law of the national courts. The study focuses on the legal status of immigrants resulting from the intervention of these national courts.

The research shows that although the courts have conferred an increasing protection on immigrants, this has not challenged the fundamental principle of the sovereignty of the states to decide, according to their discretionary prerogatives, which immigrants are allowed to enter and stay in their territories. Notwithstanding the differences in the general constitutional and legal structures, the research also shows that the courts of the three countries considered – France, Germany and Spain – have progressively moved towards converging solutions in protecting immigrants.

The research contributes to a better understanding of the different legal orders analysed.

This chapter provides comments and suggestions to the lawmaker, and especially to economic policy-makers in the field of the optimal regulatory framework and implementation of sustainable practices. The main findings are as follows: (1) degradation of the rule of law in several European Union (EU) Member States and constant political undermining of the legal institutions represent the main threat for the implementation of sustainable practices and development; (2) the golden regulatory rule of thumb provides that regulatory intervention is suggested merely in cases of market failures under the condition that the costs of such intervention do not exceed the benefits; (3) over-regulation might impede implementation of sustainable practices, distort the operation of the market, undermine productivity, diminish growth and social wealth and consequently also sustainability; (4) efficiency and wealth maximization should be the lawmaker’s leading normative principle in designing the legal framework that will enable effective implementation of sustainable practices; (5) the efficient level of harmonization or subsidiarity of decision-making in the EU urges for a rigorous investigation of costs and benefits of the EU top-down harmonization policies which should lead to a better, efficient vertical allocation of sustainability agenda between EU and the Member States; and (6) The Reflection Paper on Sustainable Development Goals – “Towards a Sustainable Europe in 2030” – represents an effective institutional framework in pursue of the overall sustainability targets.

Intimate partner violence (IPV), affecting 30 percent of women worldwide, may affect employment and workplace safety. In all, 16 US states adopted laws providing leave for employed survivors. These qualitative findings are from an evaluation of Oregon’s state leave law. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The authors interviewed Oregon government employees (n=17) with past year IPV and Oregon supervisors (n=10) of past year IPV survivors. Interviews were transcribed, analyzed and coded.

Participants agreed that IPV has an effect on work. They reported positive workplace reactions to IPV disclosure (93 percent positive, 52 percent negative), but also negative reactions (lack of information, confidentiality, supervisor support). Several implications for supervisors were named (workload, being untrained, being a mandatory reporter, workplace safety and confidentiality). Three years after implementation, 74 percent of participants did not know the leave existed, 65 percent of survivors would have used it if known. The main barriers to usage were fear for job, lack of payment, and stigma. The main barriers of implementation were untrained supervisors and lack of awareness. Participants (85 percent) suggested workplace training on IPV, the law and supervisor role.

Effective implementation and support of the IPV leave law is important to avoid negative consequences for survivors and the workplace. Participants called for an increase in IPV awareness and supervisor training.

These results provide important recommendations to policymakers, authorities and advocates on development, implementation and evaluation of laws adopted to support employed IPV survivors.

Agitation for adoption of freedom of access to government information is an emerging issue in Africa and has gathered momentum since 2000 when South Africa passed the first freedom of information (FoI) law in the continent. This paper aims to discuss the extent of passage of FoI laws in Africa, the reality of their implementation in some of the countries and the critical challenges and recommendations.

A document analysis approach was adopted for gathering vital information on the realities and challenges of FoI implementation in Africa. Literature on the concepts, principles and practice of FoI were reviewed, and relevant facts and figures were extracted to buttress the authors’ argument.

Only 14 (25.5 per cent) of the 55 countries in Africa had signed FoI law as on January 31, 2015; 16 (29.0 per cent) are still lobbying, while 25 (45.5 per cent) of the states had no significant plan yet. Political factors like colonial legacy, poor leadership, inexperienced record managers for the implementation of FoI Acts (FoIA), corruption and hydra-headed clauses such as “national security, and other privacy rights” impede access to government records in Africa. The paper recommended among others that African countries should amend restrictive laws that continue to impede full implantation of FoI laws.

Implementation of the provisions in the FoIA in Africa will not be realistic unless those restrictive clauses that hinder citizens from freely accessing government information are reviewed in line with free access to information.

This paper appears to be the first to review the status of FoIA in Africa since the first right to information laws were signed in the continent.

This paper aims to explore the development and implementation of enterprise policy in China, and the emergence of intermediaries and local strategies designed to encourage SME development.

The paper is based on interviews and workshops held with local and national government in 2003 and 2006, and informed by reference to and analysis of the policy and academic literature.

The dynamics and nature of local implementation of national enterprise legislation are mapped out, indicating an interactive dynamic between central government directive, local government adoption and response, and localised dynamics of enterprise and economic development. This “three‐way” model provides a nuanced explanation of local implementation of national enterprise legislation.

The framework can be used at the municipal level to understand how national enterprise legislation can be implemented. The framework also points to wider patterns of local implementation of national government legislation.

The paper provides a detailed model of local policy implementation, using the SME Promotion Law as a specific case of legislation.

The relevance of the work is determined by the fact that administrative law appears as one of the significant factors influencing the development of both the public administration system as a whole and the processes of its reform that the Russian Federation has faced today. The authors show that if the relations of state administration are the subject of the administrative law’s influence (after all, it is they who are influenced by administrative and legal norms), then we are faced with an extremely important question regarding the character and specificity of the relationship between administrative and legal relations and relations of state management, on the one hand, and analysis of the concept of administrative and legal regulation of public administration relations on the other. This goal is important, given that the authors substantiate the relationship between administrative law and public administration through identifying the possibilities of regulatory influence on the part of administrative law on public administration relations.

Prospects for the further development of the study are the formation of an understanding that government is not limited to administrative law, but it cannot be denied that the regulatory impact of law in public administration is decisive, and therefore public administration is largely a state-legal category, although it is not limited to this.

So, having analyzed the above approaches and positions of scientists regarding the subject of administrative law, the authors believe that it can include any managerial activity of the state authority and local government bodies that does not directly concern the subject matter of another branch of law; is realized with the help of the executive-administrative mechanism (in this case the author does not consider the executive-administrative mechanism as an exclusive prerogative or a unique feature of the executive authorities, although, of course, he agrees that it is the most typical and characteristic feature for them); is realized within the framework of a certain state authority, local government or non-governmental organization (in case of delegating state powers to it) to ensure its proper functioning (internal management relations); is implemented outside the framework of a certain state authority, local government or non-governmental organization (in case of delegating state powers to it) and is directed to other (external) with respect to the relevant body or organization of entities (external organizational management relations); and is largely characterized by relative constancy and immediacy of implementation relative to the management object.

Prospects for the further development of the study are the formation of an understanding that government is not limited to administrative law, but it cannot be denied that the regulatory impact of law in public administration is decisive, and therefore public administration is largely a state-legal category, although it is not limited to this. At the same time, indistinctness and uncertainty about different ways of understanding public administration often generate negative effects both at the general scientific level and at a purely practical level (when it comes to the exercise of administrative powers by certain state authorities).

This study aims to learn how a three-way interaction moderation model is used to analyse the role of country-specific characteristics, in the form of the implementation of Sharia law and legal origin in a particular country, in the choice of sukuk type.

The firm profitability and firm leverages of sukuk issuer are used as the firm characteristics that can influence the choice of sukuk type between Mudharaba sukuk, Ijara sukuk and Murabaha sukuk. The research sample of 545 global sukuk issuances, obtained from the IIFS database, includes the issuance of Mudharaba sukuk, Ijara sukuk and Murabaha sukuk from ten sukuk issuer countries all over the world.

The research results show that the probability of choosing Mudharaba and Ijara sukuk is found in issuers sukuk with a high firm leverage, while the probability of choosing Murabaha sukuk is found in issuers sukuk with a high firm profitability. A three-way interaction moderation model is used in this research to explain that sukuk issuers in countries that implement Sharia law and adopt a legal origin common law system will have a higher choice of Mudharabah and Ijarah sukuk types if the firm’s leverage is high. If the firms’ profitability is high, then the sukuk issuer prefers Murabaha sukuk.

The use of firm’s characteristic variables is based solely on trade-off theory and pecking order theory. Also, limitations on the implementation of Sharia law in countries that do not provide opportunities for countries that apply a mixed law system.

The role of Sharia law and common law legal origin is proven, through a three-way interaction model, to strengthen the interaction of the firm leverage and choice of Mudharaba sukuk.

Legal certainty for Islamic financial institutions is created in the context of ease of investing in sukuk. Flexibility in the structure is also one of the factors that encourage the development of market acceptance of sukuk. The right structure of the sukuk can be used for specific target markets.

There has been no study carried out on a three-way interaction moderation model used to analyse the role of country-specific characteristics. The role of Sharia law and common law legal origin is proven, through a three-way interaction model, to strengthen the interaction of the firm leverage and choice of Mudharaba sukuk.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the post-enactment status of China’s Labour Contract Law and Labour Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law, focusing on the dramatic rise in remuneration litigation amidst much criticism of weak or ineffective implementation of these laws.

This paper deploys both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods to investigate the features of remuneration litigation. Remuneration judgments by Beijing People’s Courts from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2017 provide the primary empirical data. The intrinsic features of remuneration disputes are investigated to delineate subcategories of claims. Several judges were also interviewed to further explore the nature of remuneration disputes.

Four types of remuneration claims were identified: regular wage, minimum wage, overtime and others (including subsidies and welfare). Examination of these four types, especially how they are processed until concluded by court adjudication, provides a fuller picture of the post-enactment status of these laws and yields objective and rational findings. To explain the continuing steady rise in the volume of remuneration claims, as more workers have knowledge of their rights and access to the courts, this study identifies an increase in the number of factually complicated cases (e.g. overtime claims) and abmiguity in the relevant law, leaving some remuneration disputes difficult, if not impossible, to adjudicate. Conversely, the study also finds significant positive trends following these laws’ enactment, particularly a reduction in straightforward cases, such as disputes concerning non-payment of wages/minimum wages, on which the law is clear. It is evidently imperative to improve the clarity of the current laws through further legislation, as the most appropriate next step in China’s juridification process of developing its own rule of Labour Law.

This study is purposely limited to examining remuneration litigation in Beijing’s courts from 2014 to 2017, which is representative of the national trend of dramatically rising remuneration disputes, and thus provides valuable insights. Future studies should cover a wider geographic territory and other categories of labour disputes to provide an even more comprehensive picture of the challenges and potential solutions.

By understanding the driving factors of rising labour remuneration disputes, the legislature, workers and employers can act accordingly to curb labour conflicts. The growing complexity and technicality of remuneration litigation indicates that the pressing need of labour juridification is to deploy a subtle, comprehensive method to improve legal clarity and judicial professionalism.

This study uniquely divides the types of remuneration litigation in Beijing, adopting methods and yielding findings absent from the prior literature. Both the progress and challenges in China’s rule of Labour Law process are reflected in this work, together with public policy and theoretical implications for further study.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of leadership and political will towards successful implementation of an access to information (ATI) legislation.

The paper adopted a mixed methods approach with a bias towards a quantitative survey, complemented by a qualitative follow-up and triangulation during data collection. A complement of theoretical models underpinned the paper, thus enhancing understanding of the multifaceted phenomenon of ATI.

The paper revealed that the state has demonstrated leadership and political will for ATI by developing government-wide records management manual for public entities; developing an ATI implementation action plan and availing resources for ATI. However, there is need to review laws that perpetuate secrecy; formulate regulations to operationalize the Act and allocate adequate finances for ATI activities.

The paper focused on assessing the extent of leadership and political will on the executive arm of the government excluding the Judiciary and the legislature.

The paper proposes an ATI implementation roadmap, which can be adopted by other countries with comparable contexts.

The proposed action plan if adopted will result in an informed citizenry that understands and leverages ATI to claim their socio-economic rights.

The paper provides empirical evidence on some aspects of leadership such as the ministries with ATI policy; level of engagement of policy-makers in ATI matters and the availability of resources for ATI. Further, the paper adopted a multidisciplinary approach by including the concept of ‘meaningful engagement’ whose theoretical foundation is in law to the concept of access to information.

This chapter examines and illustrates the judicial treatment of relevant concepts and norms of corporate sustainability and relevant implications for the implementation of the UN Global Compact.

This is a conceptual examination of relevant legislation, cases and concepts used by judges in giving practical content to the concepts of ‘sustainable development’, ‘sustainability’ and ‘corporate sustainability’.

The judiciary has been fashioning applicable policy, resolving and balancing the clash of interests, setting guidelines and parameters for statutory interpretation in elucidating the concept of corporate sustainability. To that extent ‘corporate sustainability law’ is developing, not only in municipal public law where legislation is the key driver, but as ‘soft’ international law.

This is a general survey of trends in judicial reasoning from different countries and legal traditions and is not applicable exclusively to any jurisdiction. The implication is that there is room for detailed study of applicable rules in each jurisdiction.

The chapter offers guidance for strategic implementation of the Global Compact, compliance to emergent obligatory principles, for shaping policy and corporate political management.

This chapter contributes to an understanding of the role and impact of the judiciary in developing corporate sustainability law and congruent principles of the Global Compact.