Explore the vast range of titles available.

Stephen Gardbaum argues that recent bills of rights in Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia are an experiment in a new third way of organizing basic institutional arrangements in a democracy. This 'new Commonwealth model of constitutionalism' promises both an alternative to the conventional dichotomy of legislative versus judicial supremacy and innovative techniques for protecting rights. As such, it is an intriguing and important development in constitutional design of relevance to drafters of bills of rights everywhere. In developing the theory and exploring the practice of this new model, the book analyses its novelty and normative appeal as a third general model of constitutionalism before presenting individual and comparative assessments of the operational stability, distinctness and success of its different versions in the various jurisdictions. It closes by proposing a set of general and specific reforms aimed at enhancing these practical outcomes.

Privatising the public University the case of law is the first full-length critical study examining the impact of the dramatic reforms that have swept through universities over the last two decades. Drawing on extensive research and interviews in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Canada, the author considers the impact of the market on students, academics and law schools, documenting how both the curriculum and pedagogical methods have changed.

The right to property is an important part of most Commonwealth constitutions. This book examines the evolution of right to property and the changing trends in their interpretation by the courts. A number of specific issues are examined closely: • Which interests are constitutionally protected as 'property'? • When does the regulation of property amount to an acquisition of property? • Are there limits on the purposes for which states may take the property of their subjects? • What are the rules regarding compensation for property? The analysis is both practical and theoretical, and it should be useful to both academic and practising lawyers.

First Published in 2011. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Purpose This paper builds on the “Law and Finance” theory and aims to examine the effect of the legal and institutional environment on the governance–performance relationship in the context of non-US firms. More precisely, it examines whether and how the country’s legal system and the level of investor protection interact with the firm-level corporate governance and affect firm performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors used the “G-Index” governance score developed by the Governance Metrics International rating for a sample of 12,728 firm-year observations from 23 countries over the 2009–2016 period. Findings The results show that the interaction between the country-level institutions and corporate governance system significantly affect the firm performance. In particular, the findings indicate that firms operating in common law countries tend to exhibit a positive valuation effect and higher performance than firms with a comparable corporate governance level operating in civil law countries. More precisely, the authors find that in common law countries, higher investor protection with enhanced corporate governance is associated with better firm performance. However, firms operating in civil law countries with weaker investor protection and a comparable corporate governance level tend to experience a negative valuation effect. Originality/value The findings suggest that the institutional and legal environment is crucial and important in determining the value-maximizing level of good governance practices. Managers and regulators should carefully analyze the cost of these initiatives and should coordinate it with the needs of the country’s legal system. The challenge for the company will be how to adjust its corporate governance strategy according to the needs and demands of the country’s legal system in which the company operates to improve its performance. The regulators should ensure a fit between the specifics of the national legal and institutional environment and corporate governance standards and practices.

Accounting conservatism is necessary for more reliability and verifiability in financial reports. Studies have reported mixed results concerning the comparative level of conservatism across countries, especially the celebrated comparison between the common law and code law countries. Therefore, this study is an attempt to reinvestigate accounting conservatism in French and UK companies, using 110 French companies and 105 UK companies during the period 2011-2019. Accounting conservatism was measured depending on the asymmetric accruals-to-cash flows because it does not rely on market information and its fluctuations. The results document a greater level of conservatism in UK companies compared to French companies, which confirms the findings of several previous studies concluding that companies in common law countries are more conservative than those from code law countries. The results of this study have many implications for different parties affecting the financial information environment, especially auditors who must continuously monitor conservatism practices in financial reports to maintain an adequate level.

The article is devoted to the actual problem of applying the doctrine of common law countries in Russian legal practice. The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that in recent years, in order to optimize the judicial procedure, there has been a tendency for law enforcement officers to turn to the estoppel doctrine used in common law countries. The research goal is to consider the possibilities and difficulties of applying the estoppel doctrine in Russian judicial practice. The author also considers the feasibility of implementing this institution in the Russian legal field. The research methodology is based on legal analysis and includes methods of the general scientific group (generalization, systematization, comparison), as well as a number of special methods: content analysis of scientific literature on the research topic, as well as doctrinal analysis, critical analysis of judicial practice. As a result of the study, the author concluded: the reception of the doctrine by Russian law should be exclusively systemic and deliberate, and the principles of Russian civil legal proceedings are of decisive importance for clarifying the reception scope of the estoppel doctrine. The borrowing of this institution of common law in the legal system of a country belonging to the continental legal type should not be mechanical. O artigo é dedicado ao problema real da aplicação da doutrina dos países de direito comum na prática jurídica russa. A relevância do tema deve-se ao facto de nos últimos anos, a fim de optimizar o procedimento judicial, ter havido uma tendência para os agentes da aplicação da lei recorrerem à doutrina de estoppel utilizada nos países de common law. O objectivo da investigação é considerar as possibilidades e dificuldades de aplicação da doutrina de estoppel na prática judicial russa. O autor também considera a viabilidade da implementação desta instituição no campo jurídico russo. A metodologia de investigação baseia-se na análise jurídica e inclui métodos do grupo científico geral (generalização, sistematização, comparação), bem como uma série de métodos especiais: análise de conteúdo da literatura científica sobre o tema de investigação, bem como análise doutrinal, análise crítica da prática judicial. Como resultado do estudo, o autor concluiu: a recepção da doutrina pela lei russa deve ser exclusivamente sistémica e deliberada, e os princípios dos procedimentos legais civis russos são de importância decisiva para clarificar o alcance da recepção da doutrina de estoppel. O empréstimo desta instituição de direito comum no sistema jurídico de um país pertencente ao tipo jurídico continental não deve ser mecânico.

The central role that good, effective and capable governance plays in the economic and social development of a country is now widely recognised. Using the Commonwealth countries of eastern and southern Africa, this book analyses some of the key constitutional issues in the process of developing, strengthening and consolidating the capacity of states to ensure the good governance of their peoples. Utilising comparative material, the book seeks to draw lessons, both positive and negative, about the problems of constitutionalism in the region and, in doing so, critically addresses the legal issues involved in seeking to make constitutions 'work' in practice.

The annual general meeting (AGM) constitutes the most important corporate event. Nevertheless, its role as an efficient instrument for corporate governance has recently come under increasing scrutiny, and numerous proposals for reform have emerged as a result. The purpose of this paper is to assess the release of value-relevant information during the AGM by analysing its impact on returns, returns volatility, and trading volumes in a sample of common- and civil-law countries. In one of the most influential articles in the field of corporate governance, La Porta et al. (J Polit Econ 106:1113–1155, 1998 ) examine the relationship between legal systems and shareholder protection. Given the importance of a country’s legal tradition regarding not only shareholders’ rights but also the role they play in the company, we cannot assume on a prior basis that results obtained in countries in which the legal tradition is based on the common law, like the US and the UK, can be directly extrapolated to countries with different legal traditions. Our results emphasise the role of national idiosyncratic characteristics in the relevance of the AGM, although only among civil-law countries. Common-law countries, on the other hand, would show a more similar behaviour.