Studies in Modern Law and Policy – serie

The book reflects on constitutional balancing from the perspective of fundamental labour rights. It draws on neo-constitutional theories and builds on the assumption that fundamental labour rights, understood as rights aimed at protecting workers during their working life or after retirement, are the normative expression of founding values and can be balanced against equally axiological constitutional principles. The balancing of constitutional labour rights can be conducted by various institutional actors and by applying different techniques. This volume reviews the theoretical debates on judicial balancing and the approaches adopted by the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, to proceed with a closer assessment of Italian and Spanish judicial traditions. In particular, it addresses the main profiles of the case law of the Italian and Spanish Constitutional Courts on labour and social law reforms adopted in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, where balancing takes place between labour rights and economic principles. The analysis is focused on four main aspects: the fundamental labour rights in the balance; the role of the Courts; the technique applied by the Judges; and the constitutional interests subject to the balancing. It ultimately reveals that the axiological nature of fundamental labour rights is preserved and the economic and financial contingencies confirm their factual character, although they are occasionally recognised a prominent role in the ratio decidendi. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of labour law, social security law, legal theory and constitutional law.

The book reflects on constitutional balancing from the perspective of fundamental labour rights. It draws on neo-constitutional theories and builds on the assumption that fundamental labour rights, understood as rights aimed at protecting workers during their working life or after retirement, are the normative expression of founding values and can be balanced against equally axiological constitutional principles. The balancing of constitutional labour rights can be conducted by various institutional actors and by applying different techniques. This volume reviews the theoretical debates on judicial balancing and the approaches adopted by the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, to proceed with a closer assessment of Italian and Spanish judicial traditions. In particular, it addresses the main profiles of the case law of the Italian and Spanish Constitutional Courts on labour and social law reforms adopted in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, where balancing takes place between labour rights and economic principles. The analysis is focused on four main aspects: the fundamental labour rights in the balance; the role of the Courts; the technique applied by the Judges; and the constitutional interests subject to the balancing. It ultimately reveals that the axiological nature of fundamental labour rights is preserved and the economic and financial contingencies confirm their factual character, although they are occasionally recognised a prominent role in the ratio decidendi. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of labour law, social security law, legal theory and constitutional law.

This book provides a set of proposals for how best to guarantee effective enforcement of labour rights worldwide.The linkage between labour standards and global trade has been recurrent for some 200 years. At a time when the world is struggling to find a way out of crisis and is striving for economic growth, more than ever there is a need for up-to-date research on how to protect and promote labour rights in the global economy. This book explores the history of the field and also provides an overview of emerging trends and opportunities. It discusses the most recent problems including: the effectiveness and the role of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in the second century of its existence, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its potential relevance in the protection of labour rights, the effectiveness of the US and the EU Generalised System of Preferences, the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) instruments on labour rights, and labour provisions in the international trade agreements concluded by the US and the EU. The book argues, inter alia, that trade agreements seem to be a useful tool to help pave the way out of the crisis and that the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) can be perceived as a model agreement and a symbol of a shift in perspective from long global supply chains to a focus on regional ones, local production, jobs and a rise in wages.The book will be essential reading for academics and students in the fields of human rights law, international labour law, industrial relations law, international sustainable development law, international economic law and international trade law. It will also be of interest to practitioners, non-government organisations (NGOs) and policy makers.

This book provides a set of proposals for how best to guarantee effective enforcement of labour rights worldwide.The linkage between labour standards and global trade has been recurrent for some 200 years. At a time when the world is struggling to find a way out of crisis and is striving for economic growth, more than ever there is a need for up-to-date research on how to protect and promote labour rights in the global economy. This book explores the history of the field and also provides an overview of emerging trends and opportunities. It discusses the most recent problems including: the effectiveness and the role of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in the second century of its existence, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its potential relevance in the protection of labour rights, the effectiveness of the US and the EU Generalised System of Preferences, the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) instruments on labour rights, and labour provisions in the international trade agreements concluded by the US and the EU. The book argues, inter alia, that trade agreements seem to be a useful tool to help pave the way out of the crisis and that the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) can be perceived as a model agreement and a symbol of a shift in perspective from long global supply chains to a focus on regional ones, local production, jobs and a rise in wages.The book will be essential reading for academics and students in the fields of human rights law, international labour law, industrial relations law, international sustainable development law, international economic law and international trade law. It will also be of interest to practitioners, non-government organisations (NGOs) and policy makers.

During the past few decades, industrialized countries have witnessed a progressive crisis of the regulatory framework sustaining the binary model of the employment relationship based on the subordinate employment/autonomous self-employment dichotomy. New atypical and hybrid working arrangements have emerged, challenging the traditional notions of, and divisions between, autonomy and subordination. This in turn has strained labour law systems across industrialized countries that were previously based on the notion of dependent and subordinate employment to cast their personal scope of application. Nicola Countouris advances ideas for a new dynamic equilibrium in employment law to accommodate this evolution, providing a comparative account of the development of the employment relationship in four key European countries - the UK, Germany, France and Italy.

This work argues that current cryptocurrency regulation, particularly in the areas of enforcement and compliance, is inadequate. It proposes reflexive regulation as an alternative approach. This book provides strategies for a reflexive regulation approach to cryptocurrencies, developed through the identification of the internal self-regulatory mechanisms of the cryptocurrency system.Apportioning blame for current problems to the regulators’ failure to take into account the inherent technical features of cryptocurrencies, the work promotes reflexive regulation in which the law acts at a subsystem-specific level to install, correct, and redefine democratic self-regulatory mechanisms. It provides strategies for this approach, developed through the identification of the internal self-regulatory mechanisms of the cryptocurrency system. These are identified as imbedded in the technical functionality of computer code and consensus-based distributive governance mechanisms respectively. In addition to providing a technical, historical and legal overview of cryptocurrencies, the book concludes by providing recommendations aimed at redirecting code and consensus towards achieving regulatory goals. In this way, it draws from the theory of reflexive law, in order to provide both a substantive and jurisprudential perspective on the regulation of cryptocurrencies and to illustrate how Financial Technology (Fintech) regulation can only be effective once regulators consider both the ‘Fin’ and the ‘tech’ in their regulatory approaches.The book will be of interest to researchers, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of Financial Regulation and Jurisprudence, Financial Crime, Banking Regulation, Information Systems, and Information Technology.

This work argues that current cryptocurrency regulation, particularly in the areas of enforcement and compliance, is inadequate. It proposes reflexive regulation as an alternative approach. This book provides strategies for a reflexive regulation approach to cryptocurrencies, developed through the identification of the internal self-regulatory mechanisms of the cryptocurrency system.Apportioning blame for current problems to the regulators’ failure to take into account the inherent technical features of cryptocurrencies, the work promotes reflexive regulation in which the law acts at a subsystem-specific level to install, correct, and redefine democratic self-regulatory mechanisms. It provides strategies for this approach, developed through the identification of the internal self-regulatory mechanisms of the cryptocurrency system. These are identified as imbedded in the technical functionality of computer code and consensus-based distributive governance mechanisms respectively. In addition to providing a technical, historical and legal overview of cryptocurrencies, the book concludes by providing recommendations aimed at redirecting code and consensus towards achieving regulatory goals. In this way, it draws from the theory of reflexive law, in order to provide both a substantive and jurisprudential perspective on the regulation of cryptocurrencies and to illustrate how Financial Technology (Fintech) regulation can only be effective once regulators consider both the ‘Fin’ and the ‘tech’ in their regulatory approaches.The book will be of interest to researchers, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of Financial Regulation and Jurisprudence, Financial Crime, Banking Regulation, Information Systems, and Information Technology.

This book examines EU enlargement by studying how domestic constitutional evolution in the new member states contributes to European integration. In contrast to the usual top-down analytical pattern, it reverses the paradigm by looking at constitutional developments and dynamics from the bottom-up, studying how domestic constitutional evolution contributes to European integration. The authors analyze constitutional trends from the perspective of 'new Member States' as policy-makers and not strictly as policy-takers. The issue of conditionality is also explored in a discussion of the extent to which pre-2004 and 2007 conditionality has had lasting effects at the level of constitutionalization of different areas and norms and if so, of what kind. The exploration of Europeanization effects in recent Member States substantiates and demonstrates how enlargement has been an important driving-force for the effective export of EU legal rules in this region. The book utilizes a comparative approach to highlight the merits and obstacles created by the growing diversity in the constitutional rules and patterns of the new Member States. It also contains a section that places the CEE constitutionalizing map in a broader comparative European and global context, establishing links with similar transitional regimes in the continent and elsewhere.

During the past few decades, industrialized countries have witnessed a progressive crisis of the regulatory framework sustaining the binary model of the employment relationship based on the subordinate employment/autonomous self-employment dichotomy. New atypical and hybrid working arrangements have emerged, challenging the traditional notions of, and divisions between, autonomy and subordination. This in turn has strained labour law systems across industrialized countries that were previously based on the notion of dependent and subordinate employment to cast their personal scope of application. Nicola Countouris advances ideas for a new dynamic equilibrium in employment law to accommodate this evolution, providing a comparative account of the development of the employment relationship in four key European countries - the UK, Germany, France and Italy.

This book examines the contractual relationships of creative artists within a number of areas of the entertainment industry. Whilst it focuses specifically on football, cricket, boxing and music, developments within other parts of the entertainment business are observed. The book also charts the concessions (artistic, professional and personal) that are often made by such artists in an attempt to achieve success and the consequent legal problems that may arise from their working relationships. Embracing historical materials and current legal practices, Contract and Control in the Entertainment Industry will be of interest to academics and students in the fields of law, sociology and cultural studies. It will also appeal to anyone who is interested in seeing how many areas of the entertainment industry have placed very restrictive contractual controls on the raw materials of the industry - the creative artists.

This book critically examines the proper role of the law in protecting job security in the contemporary workplace. It provides a historical, theoretical, practical and comparative perspective on this under-researched, but fundamentally important, legal mechanism at a time when the pressure to deregulate and dilute worker-protective laws has taken on increased importance. The volume critically analyses both statute and case law from three advanced industrialised liberal democracies with a common law foundation, the UK, Australia and the USA, to understand the extent to which job security is realised. By applying a common approach and a conceptual framework that emphasises the complex relationships between law, the economy and society to analyse a series of national studies, the book is also designed to draw upon the insights of comparative analysis to deepen our understanding of the limits and possibilities of legal regulation of job security. The national case studies are supplemented by research that focuses on how supra-national organisations have sought both to develop and disseminate new legal norms around the practices and processes of dismissal. This study critically analyses and assesses the adequacy of the international regulatory framework for protecting the rights of employees in the dismissal process.

Judicial networks have proved effective in influencing recent judicial policies enacted by both old and new EU member states. However, this influence has not been standard. This volume seeks to improve our understanding of how networks function, as well as the extent they matter in the governance of a constitutional democracy. The authors examine the judicial function of networks, the way they cross the legal and territorial borders that confine the jurisdiction of the domestic institutions, and whether or not they are independent of the capacity and the leadership of their members. A highly salient issue in contemporary law and politics, judicial networks are now qualified actors of governance. With the aim to understand how, to what extent, and with what consequences networks interact with hierarchical institutions that still exist within the States, this book is essential reading for legal experts, policy makers engaged in promoting the rule of law, members of the judicial networks in the EU and extra EU countries, as well as academics and students.

The EU strives to be a leading rule-making organisation with global reach in both economic and non-economic fields. But how should we understand the science behind this? This book focuses upon unpacking the uncertainty, the form and directions of the global reach of EU law, as a distinctive form of post-national rule-making. The work examines two central themes: the conceptual development of the global reach and effects of EU law; and the methodology of EU rule-making processes. It considers what specific impact and effects the EU’s rules are having, and its approach to global reach. The book studies the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) as a case of a non-economic field offering examples of ways and means in which the global reach of EU law can manifest itself in an evolving and sensitive field. Using this casestudy, the book develops a sharper focus upon the ‘internal’ and ‘external’ elements of EU law which make up our understanding of the global reach of EU law and develops further why global reach is important as a scientific phenomenon. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers and students in the areas of EU law, global governance and the study of law beyond the nation state.

The EU strives to be a leading rule-making organisation with global reach in both economic and non-economic fields. But how should we understand the science behind this? This book focuses upon unpacking the uncertainty, the form and directions of the global reach of EU law, as a distinctive form of post-national rule-making. The work examines two central themes: the conceptual development of the global reach and effects of EU law; and the methodology of EU rule-making processes. It considers what specific impact and effects the EU’s rules are having, and its approach to global reach. The book studies the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) as a case of a non-economic field offering examples of ways and means in which the global reach of EU law can manifest itself in an evolving and sensitive field. Using this casestudy, the book develops a sharper focus upon the ‘internal’ and ‘external’ elements of EU law which make up our understanding of the global reach of EU law and develops further why global reach is important as a scientific phenomenon. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers and students in the areas of EU law, global governance and the study of law beyond the nation state.

This book demonstrates the empirical gains and integrative potentials of social systems theory for the sociology of law. Against a backdrop of classical and contemporary sociological debates about law and society, it observes judicial review as an instrument for the self-steering of a functionally differentiated legal system. This allows close investigation of the US Supreme Court’s jurisprudence of rights, both in legal terms and in relation to structural transformations of modern society. The result is a thought-provoking account of conceptual and doctrinal developments concerning racial discrimination, race-based affirmative action, freedom of religion, and prohibition of its establishment, detailing the Court’s response to boundary tensions between functionally differentiated social systems. Preliminary examination of the European Court of Human Rights’ privacy jurisprudence suggests the pertinence of the analytic framework to other rights and jurisdictions. This contribution is particularly timely in the context of increasing appeals to fundamental rights around the world and the growing role of national and international high courts in determining their concrete meanings.

This book examines EU enlargement by studying how domestic constitutional evolution in the new member states contributes to European integration. In contrast to the usual top-down analytical pattern, it reverses the paradigm by looking at constitutional developments and dynamics from the bottom-up, studying how domestic constitutional evolution contributes to European integration. The authors analyze constitutional trends from the perspective of 'new Member States' as policy-makers and not strictly as policy-takers. The issue of conditionality is also explored in a discussion of the extent to which pre-2004 and 2007 conditionality has had lasting effects at the level of constitutionalization of different areas and norms and if so, of what kind. The exploration of Europeanization effects in recent Member States substantiates and demonstrates how enlargement has been an important driving-force for the effective export of EU legal rules in this region. The book utilizes a comparative approach to highlight the merits and obstacles created by the growing diversity in the constitutional rules and patterns of the new Member States. It also contains a section that places the CEE constitutionalizing map in a broader comparative European and global context, establishing links with similar transitional regimes in the continent and elsewhere.

Judicial networks have proved effective in influencing recent judicial policies enacted by both old and new EU member states. However, this influence has not been standard. This volume seeks to improve our understanding of how networks function, as well as the extent they matter in the governance of a constitutional democracy. The authors examine the judicial function of networks, the way they cross the legal and territorial borders that confine the jurisdiction of the domestic institutions, and whether or not they are independent of the capacity and the leadership of their members. A highly salient issue in contemporary law and politics, judicial networks are now qualified actors of governance. With the aim to understand how, to what extent, and with what consequences networks interact with hierarchical institutions that still exist within the States, this book is essential reading for legal experts, policy makers engaged in promoting the rule of law, members of the judicial networks in the EU and extra EU countries, as well as academics and students.

This book demonstrates the empirical gains and integrative potentials of social systems theory for the sociology of law. Against a backdrop of classical and contemporary sociological debates about law and society, it observes judicial review as an instrument for the self-steering of a functionally differentiated legal system. This allows close investigation of the US Supreme Court’s jurisprudence of rights, both in legal terms and in relation to structural transformations of modern society. The result is a thought-provoking account of conceptual and doctrinal developments concerning racial discrimination, race-based affirmative action, freedom of religion, and prohibition of its establishment, detailing the Court’s response to boundary tensions between functionally differentiated social systems. Preliminary examination of the European Court of Human Rights’ privacy jurisprudence suggests the pertinence of the analytic framework to other rights and jurisdictions. This contribution is particularly timely in the context of increasing appeals to fundamental rights around the world and the growing role of national and international high courts in determining their concrete meanings.

This book critically examines the proper role of the law in protecting job security in the contemporary workplace. It provides a historical, theoretical, practical and comparative perspective on this under-researched, but fundamentally important, legal mechanism at a time when the pressure to deregulate and dilute worker-protective laws has taken on increased importance. The volume critically analyses both statute and case law from three advanced industrialised liberal democracies with a common law foundation, the UK, Australia and the USA, to understand the extent to which job security is realised. By applying a common approach and a conceptual framework that emphasises the complex relationships between law, the economy and society to analyse a series of national studies, the book is also designed to draw upon the insights of comparative analysis to deepen our understanding of the limits and possibilities of legal regulation of job security. The national case studies are supplemented by research that focuses on how supra-national organisations have sought both to develop and disseminate new legal norms around the practices and processes of dismissal. This study critically analyses and assesses the adequacy of the international regulatory framework for protecting the rights of employees in the dismissal process.