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This paper explores the health rights of prisoners as defined in international law, and the mechanisms that have been used to ensure the rights of persons in detention to realise the highest attainable standard of health. It examines this right as articulated within United Nations and regional human rights treaties, non‐binding or so‐called soft law instruments from international organisations and the jurisprudence of international human rights bodies. It explores the use of economic, social and cultural rights mechanisms, and those within civil and political rights, as they engage the right to health of prisoners, and identifies the minimum legal obligations of governments in order to remain compliant with human rights norms as defined within the international case law. In addressing these issues, this article adopts a holistic approach to the definition of the highest attainable standard of health. This includes a consideration of adequate standards of general medical care, including preventative health and mental health services. It also examines the question of environmental health, and those poor conditions of detention that may exacerbate health decline, disease transmission, mental illness or death. The paper examines the approach to prison health of the United Nations human rights system and its various monitoring bodies, as well as the regional human rights systems in Europe, Africa and the Americas. Based upon this analysis, the paper draws conclusions on the current fulfilment of the right to health of prisoners on an international scale, and proposes expanded mechanisms under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment to monitor and promote the health rights of prisoners at the international and domestic levels.

This chapter is about child labour as slavery in modern and modernizing societies in an era of rapid globalization.

For the most part, child slavery in modern societies is hidden from view and cloaked in social customs, this being convenient for economic exploitation purposes.

The aim of this chapter is to bring children's ‘modern slavery’ out of the shadows, and thereby to help clarify and shape relevant social discourse and theory, social policies and practices, slavery-related legislation and instruments at all levels, and above all children's everyday lives, relationships and experiences.

The main focus is on issues surrounding (i) the concept of ‘slavery’; (ii) the types of slavery in the world today; (iii) and ‘child labour’ as a type, or basis, of slavery.

There is an in-depth examination of the implications of the notion of ‘slavery’ within international law for child labour, and especially that performed through schooling.

According to one influential approach, ‘slavery’ is a state marked by the loss of free will where a person is forced through violence or the threat of violence to give up the ability to sell freely his or her own labour power. If so, then hundreds of millions of children in modern and modernizing societies qualify as slaves by virtue of the labour they are forced – compulsorily and statutorily required – to perform within schools, whereby they, their labour and their labour power are controlled and exploited for economic purposes.

Under globalization, such enslavement has almost reached global saturation point.

Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.

Bills of lading had been in use a long time before the first attempts for the standardisation of their terms occurred. Their utility as legal documents was recognised after they have been circulated and used in international trade for some time. More clauses purporting to absolve the carrier from liability were introduced in the content of the bill of lading . A formula for the establishment of minimum liability of the carrier was adopted by a series of conferences after the first world war, in order to stop the practice of contracting in ways which would unduly favour the carrier. The whole effort has resulted in the emergence of the international convention for the unification of certain rules relating to bills of lading 1924. In modern days this document started to be used as a register in the book of loading and after years of practice has established as a new document. A bill of lading is a fundamental and vital document of international trade and commerce, indispensable to the conduct and financing of business involving the sale and transportation of goods between parties located at a distance from one another. A bill of lading has commonly been said to have three characteristics : 1} a contract for the carriage of the goods 2} an acknowledgement of their receipt and 3} documentary evidence of title . However, there is an uncertainty and dispute about its contractual nature. The significance of the establishment of the contractual role of bills of lading based on the necessity that any contractual party should know the final terms of the contract upon which the terms of the International Conventions will be implied to. Contractual terms must not be different to these stated by the International Conventions. Is the bill of lading the contract of carriage upon which the terms of the International Conventions are implied to? In this first article it is proposed to investigate the contractual role of bills of lading as it has been perceived in the different international conventions. The analysis will be based mainly on arguments which have arisen from the content of the conventions themselves, than by investigating the national Acts which were introduced in order to implement the international conventions. Reference to other sources, such as court decisions or views of various scholars, will be made in case that there is a straight relation with the construe of the conventions themselves. The main scope is to find out how the international practice is reflected in the writing of the conventions. This article will be the first of a series of articles which will follow and where their contractual role under the Creek, United States and English law will be investigated.

In this chapter, the author offers a horizontal comparison of interpretation standards contained in international legal instruments of different origin. These legal instruments range from international treaties to model laws. They also originate from different law makers such as the United Nations or individual states as well as trade or academic organisations, mainly regulating civil and commercial matters. The author argues that this comparison can provide the basis for the development of a uniform standard in the application of such law, which is often referred to as uniform law because it provides a single source of law to regulate a multitude of situations spanning across national boundaries. The main point of reference is the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, also known as the VCLT. This UN treaty specifically provides a general interpretation standard. From there newer standards occurring in subsequent uniform laws can be integrated using the lex specialis doctrine. This, in turn, provides opportunities for comprehensive usable methods to be developed for uniform law both in a public and private law settings. These then facilitate transparency, fairness and reasonableness. The correct identification of object and purposes of any given instrument is crucial for the successful interpretation of its content. It is this point that needs further research, and this chapter offers a starting point by providing some detailed examples from a range of uniform laws of varying nature including international sales laws, arbitration laws and Double Taxation Conventions.

The paper is meant to analyse the debate over the revival of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that a United Nations (UN) Convention on international terrorism is still necessary – provided that it is updated considering the new challenges that have recently emerged – and could be complemented by an annex containing the list of terrorist organisations, the determination of which is of common concern of the entire international community.

The analysis is conducted from an international law perspective. The paper uses a comparative perspective – counter-terrorism, Antarctic and ICAO system - to support the main argument.

The paper proposes an annex to the convention including a list of terrorist organisations. Some terrorist organisations are unanimously labelled as terrorist and therefore this list will be useful in developing cooperation among States. A system of revision is also presented; a system which emphasises the role of the UN Ombudsperson.

The proposal presented does not delve into the content of the convention which should be based on the draft prepared by the UN General Assembly ad hoc Committee and should take into account the most recent forms of terrorism. The paper does not provide an answer to all the questions, and it does not linger over the tragedy of civilians living in Syria and Iraq who have been deprived – starting long before the rise of the Islamic State – of their land and lives.

Revival of the debate on the draft convention – proposal for a renewed role of the Ombudsperson – legal implications of a list annexed to a convention on international terrorism – importance of multilateral cooperation in the field.

The paper is innovative in changing the perspective of the problem. The point of view regarding the definition of international terrorism has usually been the following: to find a common definition of international terrorism trying to overcome all the differences regarding general exceptions. The proposed perspective is to find the lowest common denominator for the definition and to identify organisations on which States cannot but agree on their condemnation.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a preliminary comparison of the formation of money laundering and terrorist finance norms through international conventions and through Security Council resolutions.

The formation of a global approach to criminal finance through the negotiation of international conventions is compared to the creation of a standardized approach through intervention by the United Nations Security Council.

While the formation of norms through the Security Council is efficient, it risks jeopardizing the legitimacy of the institution. Formation through conventions, with the assistance of soft‐actors, however at times glacial, is preferred.

The paper implies that the Security Council should seriously restrict any involvement in creating global norms attentive to terrorist funding.

The paper critiques global money laundering, and terrorist finance laws through the unique prism of norm formation. It demonstrates that the imperfect process of norm development through international conventions offers more promise than Security Council lead development.

Globalization has created conditions in which business has become increasingly global. The combined effect of global business, intense competition, weakening of labor unions, and the inability of national governments to control the negative effects of globalization has created immense difficulties in the formulation and implementation of global labor standards. This research takes an ancient industry with a long tradition of international features and regulations, that is, the maritime industry, as a case study to understand the dynamics associated with the regulation of a global industry. The study argues that J. R. Commons' works at the turn of the century not only give us excellent insights into the creation of global markets and the need for global labor rights protection but also provide us with a solution, that is, the creation of an “authoritative commission.” Finally, the study suggests that there is a need to enhance the role of ILO as a global “commission” to regulate the industry. Presently, the ILO does not have the essential features for becoming such a commission. Therefore, ILO should develop three important characteristics: ability to include new emerging actors, decision-making based on consensus and dialogue, and sanction power to implement its standards. Based on the above principles, ILO can work as the center of a global regulatory regime in the maritime industry. Through its power of sanction, it will implement its standards mainly through states. But, at the same time, it will network with unions and NGOs and all other important actors in the industry at local, national, and global levels to detect and eradicate substandard shipping.

This paper aims to propose a procedure to remove international trade barriers globally. Trade is confronting various barriers in the present world, and this is due to the policies of governments to protect interests of their own citizens. Experience shows that trade barriers end up with incurring losses for both sides (traders) in practice, but a look at history of polemics on trade barriers removal in World Trade Organization (WTO) shows that countries are unable to overcome the obstacles they have created. Trade partners understand that removal of counter barriers is advantageous for both parties. In the meantime, being concerned of other party’s response impedes the benefits of free trade for all parties.

This proposition is based upon Islamic Sufism teachings. The propounded principles and goals are in accordance with high understanding of social and economic subtleties of humankind’s life. The authors try to form and formalize Islamic Sufi teachings to establish a base for compiling new international convention that facilitates international trade in all aspects.

To facilitate and promote international trade relations in short run, interested countries may accept a convention to remove all trade barriers among themselves all at once.

The proposed convention does not go against General Agreement on Tariff and Trade and WTO, but it is complementary to both.

The proposed principles are actually shortcuts to what WTO may access in far futures.

Islamic Sufism teachings can lead us to solve current international problems.

WTO has taken important steps to facilitate international trade. To reach the main goal of trade liberalization of WTO, a shortcut solution is proposed here.

Trafficking¹ in human beings is gross.² It constitutes one of the most egregious violations of human rights.³ The vile nature of human trafficking is also hinged on the fact that it commodifies human beings. Hence its categorisation is modern slavery.⁴ So much of trafficking activities follow the pathways5 of other transnational forms of organised crimes and irregular cross-border movement of people.6 In response to this egregious crime, several international, regional and country laws and instruments have been used or proposed for combatting human trafficking.7 These instruments forbid trafficking in human persons and provide several preventive measures, prosecution of perpetrators and protection of victims of human trafficking.8 The number of state parties to the United Nations Protocol to prevent suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Protocol), demonstrates the global commitment to combatting human trafficking. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on legal systems, and the capacity of both state and private institutions to combat human trafficking, has added a knotty twist to the global problem of human trafficking. This essay looks at the trends of human trafficking in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also highlights international law and policy approaches that state parties and civil society organisations should adopt to counteract the changes and sustain the fight against human trafficking. Thus, the essay contributes to updating the legal and policy approaches to combat human trafficking in this era.