Debt Crises, Economic Adjustment, and Labour Standards

2018 ◽  
pp. 284-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky ◽  
Franz Christian Ebert
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Financial Institutions ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Economic Adjustment ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
The One ◽  
Practical Implications

This chapter examines the relation between economic adjustments, on the one hand, and labour standards, on the other. Section I reviews how labour standard issues have been addressed in different economic adjustment programmes, often initiated at the behest of international financial institutions, or the institutions of what was formerly known as the ‘Troika’. Subsequently, Section II analyses the legal and practical implications thereof. It explains how several labour law reforms required by international financial institutions in the context of economic adjustment have, on a number of occasions, driven countries into violations of international human rights law and international labour law in particular. Section III goes on to examine the economic case of deregulatory labour law reforms in the context of economic adjustment. It shows that the empirical evidence for negative economic effects of labour law in general and in the context of financial and economic crises in particular is at best highly controversial and cannot justify the highly problematic social effects and breaches of international law these reforms have often entailed.

A Public Law Perspective on Labour Governance by International Financial Institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-132
Author(s):  
Franz Christian Ebert
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Public Law ◽  
International Financial Institutions ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
The International Monetary Fund ◽  
Domestic Level

Over the last decades, international financial institutions (‘IFIs’) such as the International Monetary Fund (‘IMF’) or the World Bank have emerged as important actors in the area of labour governance. While the conditionality attached to IFI lending programmes is of particular importance in this regard, labour governance by IFIs transcends these well-known mechanisms. Through a variety of other governance instruments IFIs influence labour standards in their members’ territories far beyond the countries that are recipients of their financial support. This paper sheds light on the so far under-researched IMF Article IV Consultations by analysing how they impact labour standards at the domestic level. After providing an overview of the origins, scope, and the procedure of the Article IV Consultations, the paper shows that these have sometimes advocated far-reaching labour law reforms. The paper then employs the International Public Authority approach to better understand the legitimacy concerns created by these Consultations in terms of labour governance. With a view to addressing these concerns, the paper discusses avenues to strengthen the legal framework for the IMF’s Article IV Consultations in substantive and procedural terms.

Addressing child labour: reflections on the WTO’s role

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-22
Author(s):  
Jessica Williams
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Child Labour ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
International Human

Purpose – This paper aims to analyse whether the World Trade Organisation (WTO) covered agreements ought to be interpreted in a manner that enables an importing country to restrict or prohibit import of goods manufactured using child labour. This question is pertinent, given the WTO-covered agreements do not explicitly mention child labour, yet there is increasing international concern for the phenomenon of child labour, evidenced through international human rights law and international labour law treaties and a push by some developed countries’ WTO Members for inclusion of a “social clause” governing child labour under the covered agreements. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the WTO-covered agreements, current trends in interpretation of the covered agreements by panels and the Appellate Body (AB) and scholarly debate regarding connecting trade with labour standards and human rights. Findings – This paper argues: that although inclusion of a social clause in the covered agreements is unlikely, Article XX(a) GATT, Article XX(b) GATT and Article 2.1 TBT can in certain circumstances be interpreted as to allow such restrictions on the import of goods; that no clear academic argument logically precludes connecting trade with labour standards and human rights; and that to legitimate both the WTO and the international legal system as a whole, the covered agreements, as the basis of international trade law, ought to be interpreted in a manner consistent with international labour law and international human rights law. Originality/value – This paper draws upon the recent AB decision in European Commission – Seal Products, examining the AB’s interpretation of the Article XX(a) GATT “public morals” exception. This paper further seeks to provide a succinct overview of the argument surrounding WTO involvement in the issue of child labour.

Sovereign Debt Crises

2018 ◽  
pp. 28-44
Author(s):  
Rosa María Lastra ◽  
Vassilis Paliouras
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Relief ◽  
Debt Management ◽  
International Financial Institutions ◽  
Economic Adjustment ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Debt Crises ◽  
Debt Repayment

Creditor responses to sovereign debt crises suggest that they view such crises as problems of debt management on the part of the countries facing debt repayment difficulties. Thus, for example, debt relief and restructuring mechanisms coordinated by the international financial institutions place emphasis on correcting perceived imprudent debt management through a series of economic adjustment measures. Little attention, if any, is paid to addressing the underlying causes of the debt crises. This chapter examines the various causes of sovereign debt crises and the role that debt management plays in their eruption or in addressing them in a sustainable manner.

scholarly journals Guarantees used in refundable financing of innovation in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Cunha Schmidt ◽  
Micheline Gaia Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Innovation Ecosystem ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Access To Credit ◽  
Regional Bank ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
The One ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Despite the increasing availability of financing programs for innovation, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) often find it difficult to access credit for their projects. Among the reasons, the lack of the types of guarantees required by financial institutions stands out. Focused on this problem, in 2013, the Regional Bank for the Development of the Extreme South (BRDE) created a policy to stimulate innovation, making the required guarantees for financing operations of innovative companies more flexible: the BRDE Inova Program. This paper aims to analyze the guarantees used in the bank operations since the beginning of the program. Design/methodology/approach In the first stage of the research, the authors identified the guarantees used in each of the signed contracts, through a documentary survey. Next, semi-structured interviews showed the perceptions of the players involved in the innovation ecosystem of the state of Santa Catarina, regarding aspects related to the guarantees. Specifically, the authors investigated the following elements: strengths and limitations of the programs regarding access to credit for innovation; adequacy of existing guarantee mechanisms. To strengthen the conclusions, they used triangulated data collection in different stages. Findings The results showed that, on the one hand, the initiative helped BRDE to consolidate itself as the main financing agent of innovation in MSMEs; on the other hand, the need for traditional guarantees still plays a significant role for innovative MSMEs to access credit. Originality/value In addition to practical implications for the bank and other financing agents’ policies, this paper contributes to fill a gap in the literature on guarantee systems applied to the specificities of knowledge-intensive MSMEs.

The Missing Elephant in the Room—the Jurisdiction of International Human Rights Tribunals over International Humanitarian Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-408
Author(s):  
Ka Lok Yip
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
Practical Implications

Abstract Treaty-based tribunals that render binding decisions on states under international human rights law (IHRL) have long engaged with international humanitarian law (IHL) in their judgements but little attention has been given to the basis of their jurisdiction, if any, to do so. By revisiting fundamental questions on the jurisdictional basis of international tribunals, this article presents a methodological challenge to the uncritical engagement with IHL by certain IHRL tribunals. After surveying the jurisdiction of different IHRL tribunals explicitly founded on treaties, the article seeks not only to justify, but also delimit, the inherent jurisdiction of IHRL tribunals to consider IHL for interpretive purpose, in contrast to directly applying it to the dispute. Finally, the article analyses the substantive and practical implications of stricter observance of the jurisdictional limits of IHRL tribunals on the interpretation of IHRL, the determination of ‘absent’ states’ legal interest under IHL and the future of IHL dispute settlement.

Foreigners: Wanted Dead or Alive?

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-441
Author(s):  
Céline Bauloz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Premature Death ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
European Court ◽  
The One ◽  
Seriously Ill

While non-refoulement is an absolute principle of international human rights law, its application to seriously ill individuals exposed to premature death and physical and mental suffering because of the substandard medical system in their country of origin seems to have followed a double standard in Europe. On the one hand, medical cases are increasingly treated at the margin of the non-refoulement principle by the European Court of Human Rights, being only covered in highly exceptional cases. On the other hand, seriously ill individuals have been excluded from the scope of subsidiary protection in the European Union as confirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Against such restrictive interpretations, the present article calls for an integrated approach where all non-refoulement claims, including those on medical grounds, are to be assessed along the same criteria so as to ensure seriously ill individuals a genuine right to live in dignity.

International Law and the Protection of People at Sea

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irini Papanicolopulu
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Novel Approach

This is a book about how international law can be used to ensure a better protection of people at sea. The fundamental premise of the book is that international law provides numerous structural, procedural, and substantive rules that can be used towards this aim. These particular rules derive primarily from international human rights law and the law of the sea, as well as from other fields of international law, including maritime law, labour law, and refugee law. The book discusses in depth how these rules regulate the scope of State duties towards people at sea, as well as how they affect the content of these duties, adapting generic human rights requirements to the special nature of the marine environment. All of these rules can be conceptualized as a sui generis special regime of international law, the overarching principle of which is the duty of States to protect people at sea and to adopt all necessary acts with a view towards ensuring enjoyment of their rights. This novel approach advocates a systemic reading of international law and advances the proposal that a new regime is emerging in this area. Using insights from theories of conflict of norms and regime interaction, it presents an analytical framework within which to examine the relationships between different rules of international law, expounding the conceptual potential of thinking in terms of regimes and in terms of the system and the ability of international law to produce countless functional legal regimes.

scholarly journals Human Rights Obligations of the Territorial State in the Cyberspace of Areas Outside Its Effective Control

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antal Berkes
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Territorial State ◽  
Treaty Monitoring ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One

The absence of control of a territorial state over part of its physical territory is closely associated with online human rights violations, on the one hand, and the state's restricted (but not necessarily absent) control over the cyberspace, on the other. Notwithstanding the lack of its effective territorial control, the territorial state continues to be entitled to exercise its sovereignty over both territory and cyberspace. The consequence of sovereignty in international human rights law is the territorial state's presumed jurisdiction over its entire national territory. The article claims that the territorial state, while lacking the effective means to control its cyberspace fully as it does in the government-controlled areas, has continuing jurisdiction, and consequently obligations, to protect human rights online from wrongful acts that originate, occur or have effect in the area outside its effective control. Treaty monitoring bodies have recommended various positive measures that any territorial state is required to take while seeking to restore its ‘internet sovereignty’ in the separatist region, depending on the means in its power that are feasible in the particular situation.

scholarly journals An Analysis of the Security Council Procedures in Managing Severe Violations of the International Human Rights

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Abdolsamad Doulah ◽  
Mirshahbiz Shafee
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Peace ◽  
International Crises ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
The One

The UN Security Council is primarily in charge of maintaining international peace and security. There has been raised various debates on how the Security Council manage international crises in the world, particularly severe violations of international human rights law. On the one hand, the traditional view to international peace has altered and the Security Council is also in charge of observing the standards of the international human rights. On the other hand, the international community has faced inconsistencies in the use of the veto by its permanent members on the international human rights violations. However, many analysts believe that the Security Council could take timely action to prevent violations of international human rights law. At that time, they fell into the trap of politics and proved insufficient. This article is in response to this important issue, indicating that the management of the Security Council has been fair in the case of international human rights violations. This study also aims to investigate whether the Security Council has been successful in adopting a procedure independent from the interests of its permanent members.

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