Abstract Based on the literature on decentralization, this article investigates the institutional arrangement and autonomy of local governments in Tigray Regional state. It is based on two rounds of field work covering nine districts. At a formal level, local governments are autonomous units with some defined mandates including power to decide on policy issues. In reality however, local governments in the study area act more as deconcentrated than as autonomous units since their autonomy is curtailed by higher level governments and party structures. Local governments are thus extension arms of the regional state with little autonomy of their own. Institutions such as elected councils, mayors and the executive exist at the local level but there is more vertical than horizontal accountability. As a result, local Councils have not been able to ensure accountability. Thus decentralization has not resulted in popular control of local governance and local-level development as interests of the party and the local political elite prevail over popular interests. The article calls for rethinking the design of local government that would constitute a local government deal that shifts decision-making away from higher level institutions to the local level, constituting multi-stake holders having control over the affairs of local government.
{"title":"Local Level Decentralization in Ethiopia: Case Study of Tigray Regional State","authors":"Assefa Fiseha","doi":"10.1515/ldr-2019-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-0006","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Based on the literature on decentralization, this article investigates the institutional arrangement and autonomy of local governments in Tigray Regional state. It is based on two rounds of field work covering nine districts. At a formal level, local governments are autonomous units with some defined mandates including power to decide on policy issues. In reality however, local governments in the study area act more as deconcentrated than as autonomous units since their autonomy is curtailed by higher level governments and party structures. Local governments are thus extension arms of the regional state with little autonomy of their own. Institutions such as elected councils, mayors and the executive exist at the local level but there is more vertical than horizontal accountability. As a result, local Councils have not been able to ensure accountability. Thus decentralization has not resulted in popular control of local governance and local-level development as interests of the party and the local political elite prevail over popular interests. The article calls for rethinking the design of local government that would constitute a local government deal that shifts decision-making away from higher level institutions to the local level, constituting multi-stake holders having control over the affairs of local government.","PeriodicalId":43146,"journal":{"name":"Law and Development Review","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138532407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The ways in which cities function and are governed matter economically. While the growing literature on ‘global cities’ shows that city governments often pursue economic competitiveness, not much work has been done on whether the formal powers and competencies of cities and towns, as well as the ways in which these are wielded, are conducive to the achievement of developmental and socio-economic objectives. This article considers the interactions and interdependencies between local government law, urban governance, developmental objectives and formal as well as informal cross-border trade between cities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. While supporting increased devolution of local government powers, it cautions that cities of SADC must take care to wield their powers in ways that ensure the economic flourishing of the majority of their inhabitants. In particular, this requires a change of mindset in relation to the municipal regulation of informal economic activity.
{"title":"Local Government Law, Development and Cross-border Trade in the Global Cities of SADC","authors":"Marius Pieterse","doi":"10.1515/ldr-2019-0055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-0055","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The ways in which cities function and are governed matter economically. While the growing literature on ‘global cities’ shows that city governments often pursue economic competitiveness, not much work has been done on whether the formal powers and competencies of cities and towns, as well as the ways in which these are wielded, are conducive to the achievement of developmental and socio-economic objectives. This article considers the interactions and interdependencies between local government law, urban governance, developmental objectives and formal as well as informal cross-border trade between cities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. While supporting increased devolution of local government powers, it cautions that cities of SADC must take care to wield their powers in ways that ensure the economic flourishing of the majority of their inhabitants. In particular, this requires a change of mindset in relation to the municipal regulation of informal economic activity.","PeriodicalId":43146,"journal":{"name":"Law and Development Review","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138532428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Law and Development: Three Irreconcilable Interests – Call for a New Beginning","authors":"Yong-Shik Lee","doi":"10.1515/ldr-2019-0080","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-0080","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43146,"journal":{"name":"Law and Development Review","volume":"41 1 1","pages":"321-333"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138532401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-25DOI: 10.1515/ldr-2020-frontmatter1
{"title":"Frontmatter","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/ldr-2020-frontmatter1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2020-frontmatter1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43146,"journal":{"name":"Law and Development Review","volume":"79 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87089846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract From the end of World War Two, the core methodology of law and development projects has been to transplant the best legal institutions of Western capitalism to poor and emerging economies. In many post-colonial contemporary Muslim-majority countries, such programs have not adequately engaged with local legal systems, cultures and traditions. Contrary to the restrictive modernist approach to law and development, and inspired by the Sharia, there are numerous Islamic social finance mechanisms that can be utilised for poverty alleviation and their existence is evident across Bangladesh. These cover the full spectrum of philanthropic to financing, investments and insurance built upon Sharia norms and principles. Unfortunately, the true potential of Islamic social finance is considerably constrained by the weak regulatory and policy environment. Islamic social finance does not feature in national development plans, is regulated through a patchwork framework, and operates at a negligible scale. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the existing regulatory and institutional landscape of Zakah (obligatory almsgiving), awqaf (perpetual endowments), Islamic microfinance and microtakaful (microinsurance) in Bangladesh and examines the potential and challenges for Islamic social finance to reduce poverty. Thereafter, several pertinent policy and institutional recommendations are provided to effectively modernise and advance the effectiveness of Islamic social finance institutions. The methodology employed is a mixed approach incorporating literature review, legal analysis of laws and regulation and contextual analysis and field interviews among industry stakeholders. Ultimately, while private investment and initiatives are always able to support the Islamic social finance sector, this paper focuses on the extent to which the regulatory and policy environment is a crucial enabler for widespread and sustained development impact.
{"title":"Islamic Social Finance in Bangladesh: Challenges and Opportunities of the Institutional and Regulatory Landscape","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/ldr-2019-0072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-0072","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract From the end of World War Two, the core methodology of law and development projects has been to transplant the best legal institutions of Western capitalism to poor and emerging economies. In many post-colonial contemporary Muslim-majority countries, such programs have not adequately engaged with local legal systems, cultures and traditions. Contrary to the restrictive modernist approach to law and development, and inspired by the Sharia, there are numerous Islamic social finance mechanisms that can be utilised for poverty alleviation and their existence is evident across Bangladesh. These cover the full spectrum of philanthropic to financing, investments and insurance built upon Sharia norms and principles. Unfortunately, the true potential of Islamic social finance is considerably constrained by the weak regulatory and policy environment. Islamic social finance does not feature in national development plans, is regulated through a patchwork framework, and operates at a negligible scale. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the existing regulatory and institutional landscape of Zakah (obligatory almsgiving), awqaf (perpetual endowments), Islamic microfinance and microtakaful (microinsurance) in Bangladesh and examines the potential and challenges for Islamic social finance to reduce poverty. Thereafter, several pertinent policy and institutional recommendations are provided to effectively modernise and advance the effectiveness of Islamic social finance institutions. The methodology employed is a mixed approach incorporating literature review, legal analysis of laws and regulation and contextual analysis and field interviews among industry stakeholders. Ultimately, while private investment and initiatives are always able to support the Islamic social finance sector, this paper focuses on the extent to which the regulatory and policy environment is a crucial enabler for widespread and sustained development impact.","PeriodicalId":43146,"journal":{"name":"Law and Development Review","volume":"4 1","pages":"265 - 319"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87945245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This article excavates and analyses an early, feminist conversation about law that emerged from foundational texts on Gender and Development (GAD). Rather than starting from current, law-heavy GAD practices, it goes backwards to see what, if anything, some canonical texts published between 1970 and 1989 said about law. My aim is to offer an account of legally-relevant GAD theorising written before the current consensus about law reform as a tool had solidified, and – in so doing – to unsettle that consensus and identify some intellectual inheritances that might offer us an alternative way forward.
{"title":"Law, Gender, and Development: Potent Hauntings","authors":"Kate Bedford","doi":"10.1515/ldr-2019-0066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-0066","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article excavates and analyses an early, feminist conversation about law that emerged from foundational texts on Gender and Development (GAD). Rather than starting from current, law-heavy GAD practices, it goes backwards to see what, if anything, some canonical texts published between 1970 and 1989 said about law. My aim is to offer an account of legally-relevant GAD theorising written before the current consensus about law reform as a tool had solidified, and – in so doing – to unsettle that consensus and identify some intellectual inheritances that might offer us an alternative way forward.","PeriodicalId":43146,"journal":{"name":"Law and Development Review","volume":"18 1 1","pages":"229 - 264"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78300755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-14DOI: 10.1515/ldr-2019-frontmatter3
{"title":"Frontmatter","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/ldr-2019-frontmatter3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-frontmatter3","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43146,"journal":{"name":"Law and Development Review","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84403116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Socio-economic rights are regarded as an indispensable foundation of substantial freedom. At the same time, the embodiment of socio-economic rights in the Constitution is generally associated with concerns about their quality as a fundamental right and their judicial enforcement. The South Korean Constitution upholds the principle of the welfare state in the preamble, the fundamental social rights of Articles 31 to 36 and Article 119 (2), providing the legal basis for the regulation and coordination of economic affairs by the State. The implementation of these constitutional norms and ideals was left largely to the political process beyond judicial review for many decades. As a result of the rapid economic development, the democratization process and the introduction of constitutional review in the last 30 years, the normative discussion of basic social rights, both on societal and legal level, has taken on a new life. This article examines the South Korean Constitutional Court’s approach to judicial review in the socio-economic field with due regard to this changing reality.
{"title":"The Judicial Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights in South Korea","authors":"Wonil Cha","doi":"10.1515/ldr-2019-0045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-0045","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Socio-economic rights are regarded as an indispensable foundation of substantial freedom. At the same time, the embodiment of socio-economic rights in the Constitution is generally associated with concerns about their quality as a fundamental right and their judicial enforcement. The South Korean Constitution upholds the principle of the welfare state in the preamble, the fundamental social rights of Articles 31 to 36 and Article 119 (2), providing the legal basis for the regulation and coordination of economic affairs by the State. The implementation of these constitutional norms and ideals was left largely to the political process beyond judicial review for many decades. As a result of the rapid economic development, the democratization process and the introduction of constitutional review in the last 30 years, the normative discussion of basic social rights, both on societal and legal level, has taken on a new life. This article examines the South Korean Constitutional Court’s approach to judicial review in the socio-economic field with due regard to this changing reality.","PeriodicalId":43146,"journal":{"name":"Law and Development Review","volume":"1 1","pages":"819 - 836"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88777398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract South Korea is one of the most successful economic development cases in history. This country, stricken with crushing poverty and torn by a disastrous war two generations ago, rose from the ashes of the war and underwent unprecedented economic development for over three decades. By the mid-1990s, South Korea had built an advanced economy with world-class industries and also achieved a liberal democracy based on the rule of law. Since its 1997 financial crisis, however, Korea’s economic growth has been continually slowing down with widening income gaps among its populations. The Korean economy has also faced increasing external pressure, which has recently been dramatized by Japan’s export restraint measures on some of the key materials used to produce semiconductors, one of the most important export products for the Korean economy. This note discusses structural issues in the Korean economy, such as its over-dependency on a small number of conglomerates (“chaebols”) and the weakness of its SMEs, which cause the Korean economy to slow down and render the economy vulnerable to external pressure. This note examines these issues from a legal and institutional perspective and offers proposals to remedy some of the problems in the Korean economy.
{"title":"South Korean Economy at the Crossroads: Structure Issues under External Pressure – An Essay from a Law and Development Perspective","authors":"Yong‐Shik Lee","doi":"10.1515/ldr-2019-0063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-0063","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract South Korea is one of the most successful economic development cases in history. This country, stricken with crushing poverty and torn by a disastrous war two generations ago, rose from the ashes of the war and underwent unprecedented economic development for over three decades. By the mid-1990s, South Korea had built an advanced economy with world-class industries and also achieved a liberal democracy based on the rule of law. Since its 1997 financial crisis, however, Korea’s economic growth has been continually slowing down with widening income gaps among its populations. The Korean economy has also faced increasing external pressure, which has recently been dramatized by Japan’s export restraint measures on some of the key materials used to produce semiconductors, one of the most important export products for the Korean economy. This note discusses structural issues in the Korean economy, such as its over-dependency on a small number of conglomerates (“chaebols”) and the weakness of its SMEs, which cause the Korean economy to slow down and render the economy vulnerable to external pressure. This note examines these issues from a legal and institutional perspective and offers proposals to remedy some of the problems in the Korean economy.","PeriodicalId":43146,"journal":{"name":"Law and Development Review","volume":"18 1","pages":"865 - 885"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90797775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The relationship between the European Union (EU) and its member states has recently been the subject of several legal proceedings in the German Federal Constitutional Court (GFCC) and the European Court of Justice. The backdrop to the underlying controversies were policies instituted by the European Central Bank (ECB) dealing with the economic and monetary situation in various member states in the context of the sovereign debt crises to influence interest rates, combat deflationary tendencies and keep inflation under but close to the ECB’s 2% inflation target. Especially so-called outright monetary transactions (OMTs) and the corresponding OMT-program and a particular high volume public sector asset purchasing program (PSPP) announced by the ECB have been controversially discussed. Legally, the controversies are about the prohibition for the ECB to finance debt held by the EU or member states (Article 123 TFEU) and about the delineation of economic policy (Article 119 et seq. TFEU), which lies in the hands of the members states, and monetary policy (Article 127 et seq. TFEU), which is exclusively in the hands of the ECB. The GFCC in its decisions propagated a restrictive approach emphasizing the role of the member states and pointing to the doctrines developed by it around ultra vires acts and so-called identity review. This paper attempts to shed some light on this controversy and argues that beyond the legal controversy lies a deeper problem of the relationship between judicial and political decision-making that the GFCC should exercise restraint in exercising its functions and remember its own doctrine of “open constitutional norms” developed in a different context but applicable here as well.
欧盟与其成员国之间的关系最近成为德国联邦宪法法院(GFCC)和欧洲法院(European Court of Justice)几个法律诉讼的主题。潜在争议的背景是欧洲中央银行(ECB)在主权债务危机的背景下制定的政策,以应对各成员国的经济和货币形势,以影响利率,对抗通货紧缩趋势,并使通货膨胀率低于但接近欧洲央行2%的通货膨胀目标。特别是所谓的直接货币交易(omt)和相应的omt计划,以及欧洲央行宣布的一项特别的大规模公共部门资产购买计划(PSPP),一直备受争议。在法律上,争议在于禁止欧洲央行为欧盟或成员国持有的债务提供融资(第123条TFEU),以及对经济政策的界定(第119条及以下各条)。TFEU),由成员国掌握,以及货币政策(第127条及其后各条)。TFEU),它完全掌握在欧洲央行手中。GFCC在其决定中宣传了一种限制性方法,强调成员国的作用,并指出它围绕越权行为和所谓的身份审查制定的理论。本文试图揭示这一争议,并认为在法律争议之外存在着司法决策与政治决策之间关系的更深层次问题,即GFCC在行使其职能时应保持克制,并牢记其在不同背景下发展但也适用于这里的“开放宪法规范”原则。
{"title":"Economic Constitutionalism in the EU and Germany – The German Constitutional Court, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank between Law and Politics","authors":"Jürgen Bröhmer","doi":"10.1515/ldr-2019-0043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-0043","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The relationship between the European Union (EU) and its member states has recently been the subject of several legal proceedings in the German Federal Constitutional Court (GFCC) and the European Court of Justice. The backdrop to the underlying controversies were policies instituted by the European Central Bank (ECB) dealing with the economic and monetary situation in various member states in the context of the sovereign debt crises to influence interest rates, combat deflationary tendencies and keep inflation under but close to the ECB’s 2% inflation target. Especially so-called outright monetary transactions (OMTs) and the corresponding OMT-program and a particular high volume public sector asset purchasing program (PSPP) announced by the ECB have been controversially discussed. Legally, the controversies are about the prohibition for the ECB to finance debt held by the EU or member states (Article 123 TFEU) and about the delineation of economic policy (Article 119 et seq. TFEU), which lies in the hands of the members states, and monetary policy (Article 127 et seq. TFEU), which is exclusively in the hands of the ECB. The GFCC in its decisions propagated a restrictive approach emphasizing the role of the member states and pointing to the doctrines developed by it around ultra vires acts and so-called identity review. This paper attempts to shed some light on this controversy and argues that beyond the legal controversy lies a deeper problem of the relationship between judicial and political decision-making that the GFCC should exercise restraint in exercising its functions and remember its own doctrine of “open constitutional norms” developed in a different context but applicable here as well.","PeriodicalId":43146,"journal":{"name":"Law and Development Review","volume":"75 1","pages":"761 - 795"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89904099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}