Promoting The Rule Of Law Abroad The Problem Of Knowledge

"Over the past decade, Carothers has established himself as the leading U.S. expert on democracy promotion. He is a powerful critic not only of the nuts-and-bolts of democracy assistance but also of U.S. grand strategy overall."—SAIS Review Promoting the rule of law has become a major part of Western efforts to spread democracy and market economics around the world. Yet, although programs to foster the rule of law abroad have mushroomed, well-grounded knowledge about what factors ensure success, and why, remains scarce. In Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad, leading practitioners and policy-oriented scholars draw on years of experience—in Russia, China, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa—to critically assess the rationale, methods, and goals of rule-of-law policies. These incisive, accessible essays offer vivid portrayals and penetrating analyses of the challenges that define this vital but surprisingly little-understood field. Contributors include Rachel Belton (Truman National Security Project), Lisa Bhansali (World Bank), Christina Biebesheimer (World Bank), Thomas Carothers (Carnegie Endowment), Wade Channell, Stephen Golub, and David Mednicoff (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Laure-Hélène Piron (Overseas Development Institute), Matthew Spence (Yale Law School), Matthew Stephenson (Harvard Law School), and Frank Upham (NYU School of Law).

This book examines the numerous new courts created throughout Asia during the last 20 years, covering important jurisdictions including human rights, intellectual property disputes, bankruptcy petitions, commercial contracts, public law adjudication, personal law, labour and industrial disputes. It evaluates their performances, and considers the broader economic, social and political implications.

Do EU institutions have an influence on the implementation of the rule of law in potential candidate countries and, if so, of what kind? During the compliance monitoring process related to the effective rule of law and democracy the EU Commission tests and criticizes the effectiveness of the judiciary and strengthens the rule of law in preparation for accession. In the Western Balkans this was a process fraught with difficulties. Despite the fact that academic scholarship and democratic politics agree on rule of law as a legitimizing principle for the exercise of state authority, there is no uniform European standard for institution-building or monitoring activities by the EU in this area. With focus on the reform of the judiciary in five case study countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, this empirical research investigates the EU's transformative power with regard to the effectiveness of rule of law and judicial sector reform in its infancy. It analyses the depth and limitations of EU rule of law promotion in the Western Balkans and presents policy recommendations intended to address the shortcomings in judiciary reform. This book aims to fill the gap in the existing academic scholarship of EU politics, law and Western Balkans literature.

This volume explores the various strategies, mechanisms and processes that influence rule of law dynamics across borders and the national/international divide, illuminating the diverse paths of influence. It shows to what extent, and how, rule of law dynamics have changed in recent years, especially at the transnational and international levels of government. To explore these interactive dynamics, the volume adopts an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together the normative perspective of law with the analytical perspective of social sciences. The volume contributes to several fields, including studies of rule of law, law and development, and good governance; democratization; globalization studies; neo-institutionalism and judicial studies; international law, transnational governance and the emerging literature on judicial reforms in authoritarian regimes; and comparative law (Islamic, African, Asian, Latin American legal systems).

This text promotes a more global sociolegal perspective that engages with multiple laws and societies and diverse sociolegal systems based on very different historical and cultural traditions, interacting on multiple local, national, and global levels. The approach to global legal pluralism seeks to provide a framework for envisioning new global governance regimes that move beyond state-based solutions to deal with trenchant transnational challenges.

This book is a compilation of thematically arranged essays that critically analyze emerging developments, issues, and perspectives in the field of comparative law, especially in the field of comparative constitutional law. The book discusses limits and challenges of comparativism, comparative aspects of arbitral awards, cross-border consumer disputes, online hate speech, authoritarian constitutions, issues related to legal transplants, the indispensability of the idea of the concept of Rechtsstaat, interdisciplinary challenges of comparative environmental law, free exercise of religions, public interest litigation, constitutional interpretation and developments, and sustainable development in model BITs. It comprises seven parts, wherein the first part focuses on general themes of comparative law, the second part discusses private law through a comparative lens, and the third, fourth, and fifth parts examine aspects of public law with special focus on constitutional law, human rights, environmental law, and economic laws. The last part of the book covers recent developments in the field of comparative law. The book intends to seamlessly tie together discussions on both public and private law aspects of comparative law. It encourages readers to gain a nuanced understanding of the working of law, legal systems, and legal cultures while aiding deliberations on the constituents of an ideal system of law.