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[...] as this over-integration is a reasonable reaction to the deficits in state protection of cross-border contracts, it cannot be countered by a strict world antitrust law without suppressing crossborder exchange. [...] Calliess and Mertens stress that international private law policy establishing legal certainty in the enforcement of cross-border contracts currently seems to be the instrument of choice in promoting competition in the global economy.

In many regions of the world and across various fields, law has become a product. Individuals and companies seek attractive legal regulations, and countries advertise their legal wares globally as they compete for customers. Transnational corporations in particular are prominent actors in the emerging transnational law market. This article investigates the causes of this development and discusses these changes with respect to company law, contract law, the law of dispute resolution, and insolvency law. It assesses the market for legal rules and its practical consequences, and it provides legal policy recommendations for an efficient framework of the transnational law market. The emphasis is on transnational corporations as market actors and on specifics of the European regulatory framework.

The case ofFlomo v. Firestone Natural Rubber Companyinvolves child laborers' claims that labor practices on a Liberian rubber plantation violate international norms. Though the case was recently resolved in favor of the defendants at the district court level, the case's complicated procedural and substantive history offers insight into the viability of future child labor claims. This Note examines the Flomo case and explores how standards from the ATS and the United States Supreme Court case Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain apply to future plaintiffs' claims. This Note also analyzes the potential repercussions that plaintiffs face in using the ATS as a tool to influence global child labor practices and highlights the realities of ATS child labor litigation.

In this article we criticize the so-called more economic approach to European competition law for disregarding the importance of a functional system of private law. Based on the availability of market governance as an alternative mode for organizing transactions, it is presumed that vertical integration, which is the central organizational structure of transnational corporations, is economically efficient. Since the enforcement of cross-border contracts by state-organized systems of private law, however, is insufficient, \"“make-or-buy\"” decisions in international commerce are prejudiced against arms' length transactions in markets. Consequently, international transactions are integrated vertically into firms' structures to a higher degree than comparable domestic transactions organized in the shadow of domestic private law. The resulting overintegration of world markets leads to reduced competitive incentives and high bureaucratic costs. Contrary to the fundamental assumptions of the more economic approach, vertical integration does not, therefore, foster consumer welfare in the global economy per se. However, as this overintegration is a reasonable reaction to the deficits in state protection of cross-border contracts, a strict world antitrust law cannot counter it without suppressing cross-border exchange. Thus, international private law policy establishing legal certainty in the enforcement of cross-border contracts currently seems to be the instrument of choice in promoting competition in the global economy.

The rule of law is often touted as a panacea for the problems faced by the developing world. As a result, billions of dollars in foreign aid have been spent trying to promote the rule of law in developing countries. However, in many cases, little observable progress has been made. This Note explores some of the reasons rule of law reform efforts have stalled. One reason is that reform has focused solely on formal rule of law institutions, rather than on the informal political or cultural norms that are needed to support such institutions. Little is known, however, about how to foster such political and cultural norms where they are lacking. This Note argues that, at a minimum, fostering such norms requires a will to reform on the part of governments and political elites. Foreign aid, in the form of monetary transfers, has negative unintended consequences on the will to reform. By drawing on the economic literature detailing how foreign aid can provide perverse incentives for developing country governments, this Note argues that foreign aid decreases the incentives of governments and political elites to adopt a will to reform. In turn, this makes rule of law reform less likely to be successful.

The United States' mission in Afghanistan is to create a stable, democratic country that will no longer serve as a stronghold for terrorist organizations. Since the U.S. takeover in 2001, most rule-of-law promotion has focused on urban centers, allowing the Taliban to gain traction in rural areas by creating its own alternative justice system. This Note discusses the primary obstacles preventing citizens in rural Afghanistan from accessing the state justice system and suggests solutions to those obstacles.

Examining cross-national variation in family law, we find that many countries have reformed to promote sex equality. Yet a significant group retains older laws that discriminate against women. These variations reflect the diverse institutional legacies of these societies, conforming closely-—but not entirely-—to inherited legal traditions: civil law, common law, and postsocialist countries are the most egalitarian, while countries applying religious law are the least. Yet change is possible, even in unlikely contexts. Political conjunctures that disarm religious, nationalist, and fundamentalist opponents can open windows of opportunity for liberalizing reform.

The sources of law in most African countries are customary law, the common law and legislation both colonial and post-independence. In a typical African country, the great majority of the people conduct their personal activities in accordance with and subject to customary law. Customary law has great impact in the area of personal law in regard to matters such as marriage, inheritance and traditional authority, and because it developed in an era dominated by patriarchy some of its norms conflict with human rights norms guaranteeing equality between men and women. While recognizing the role of legislation in reform, it is argued that the courts have an important role to play in ensuring that customary law is reformed and developed to ensure that it conforms to human rights norms and contributes to the promotion of equality between men and women. The guiding principle should be that customary law is living law and cannot therefore be static. It must be interpreted to take account of the lived experiences of the people it serves.

The German Basic Law's Regime for the use of force is evidence of and an explanation for the deep difference between Germany and the United States on security matters. It also might say something more grand about the power of law to constrain force.

While economic theories of the firm have traditionally focused on the ownership of assets, the increasing use of contractual partnerships is beginning to challenge our conception of the firm by emphasizing its coordinating role. In structuring their contracts, as well as in managing the relationships governed by the contracts, firms try to mitigate uncertainties that could destroy the value-adding potential of such transactions. These uncertainties may be specific to the transaction partner, but they might also arise from the institutional context of the contracting parties, particularly in the case of transactions that cross borders. The coevolutionary process whereby firms both adjust to and shape the institutional constraints facing them results in new hybrid forms of governance, which contribute to the body of private transnational law. By studying how firms mitigate the uncertainties in their contractual relationships, empirical research can yield new insights about the emergence and impact of private law.