Unfair Terms in Standard Form Consumer Contracts

<p>This paper explores the amendments to the Fair trading Act 1986 introducing provisions preventing the use of unfair terms in standard form consumer contracts. The amendments are drafted in close line with Australian federal and state legislation addressing unfair terms. This paper outlines the provisions, identifies two key differences between the Australian and New Zealand legislation, and argues that as a result of those differences the protection will not be effective. The ultimate conclusion reached is that consumers in New Zealand are now protected from unfair terms within standard form contracts in form but not substance</p>

Unfair Terms in Standard Form Consumer Contracts

<p>This paper explores the amendments to the Fair trading Act 1986 introducing provisions preventing the use of unfair terms in standard form consumer contracts. The amendments are drafted in close line with Australian federal and state legislation addressing unfair terms. This paper outlines the provisions, identifies two key differences between the Australian and New Zealand legislation, and argues that as a result of those differences the protection will not be effective. The ultimate conclusion reached is that consumers in New Zealand are now protected from unfair terms within standard form contracts in form but not substance</p>

Unsubstantiated representations: An unsubstantiated reform?

<p>This essay analyses the recent amendment to the Fair Trading Act 1986 that created a prohibition of “unsubstantiated representations” in trade. The reform process presented an opportunity to bring the FTA in line with recent amendments to the Australian law that had addressed the same issues. However, New Zealand opted to go further. This essay traces the prohibition through the wider consumer law reform process to investigate how the final provision was arrived at. By critically analysing the process that led to the amendments, the essay suggests that the decision to create a prohibition was based on flawed reasoning. In particular, it is argued that New Zealand should have followed the Australian approach, and that creating a prohibition has instead produced unnecessary liability in the absence of sufficient justification.</p>

Unsubstantiated representations: An unsubstantiated reform?

<p>This essay analyses the recent amendment to the Fair Trading Act 1986 that created a prohibition of “unsubstantiated representations” in trade. The reform process presented an opportunity to bring the FTA in line with recent amendments to the Australian law that had addressed the same issues. However, New Zealand opted to go further. This essay traces the prohibition through the wider consumer law reform process to investigate how the final provision was arrived at. By critically analysing the process that led to the amendments, the essay suggests that the decision to create a prohibition was based on flawed reasoning. In particular, it is argued that New Zealand should have followed the Australian approach, and that creating a prohibition has instead produced unnecessary liability in the absence of sufficient justification.</p>

11. Enterprise Act 2002: market studies and market investigations

This chapter describes the UK system of market studies and market investigation references. It begins by describing the CMA’s ‘general function’ of gathering information about markets, followed by an explanation of what is meant by a ‘super-complaint’. It then examines the purpose, procedure and outcomes of market studies, including the various outcomes that are possible. Market studies sometimes lead to market investigation references, though, as explained later, there are several other possible outcomes of a market study. The chapter describes the making and determination of analyses the market investigation provisions references under Part 4 in of the Enterprise Act 2002. Having briefly considered public interest cases, enforcement and other supplementary matters, the chapter discusses how the market investigation provisions have been working work in practice. The final section of the chapter briefly refers to the enforcement and review of undertakings and orders still in force under the monopoly provisions in the former Fair Trading Act 1973.

Religious-ethical Framework of Islamic Economics

The article studies relation between ethics and economics to what role moral and economic principles play in Islamic economics. The article includes introduction, two sections and conclusion. The first section discusses a relation between ethical norms and economics. We attempted to critically analyze moral and ethical norms proposed by the western economists such as Jean-Baptiste Say, Leon Walras, Alfred Marshal in XIX century. Muslim social scientist Ibn Khaldun and French thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau proposed not to consider an individual only as economic unit but develop his other aspects and potential as part of their economic research. The second section considers how far ethical norms of Islamic economics were researched. The article emphasizes that norms and principles of Islamic economics derive from Quran and Sunnah, researches ethics of those economic principles. To be exact, we will determine that Islamic economics is based on fair trading, economic equality, property protection and scrutinize each that aspect. The research results will prove that moral and ethical norms play a crucial role in general economic science, ethical norms of Islamic economics consist an integral part of economic decisions and actions.

Application Of Permissioned Blockchain For Automated, Efficient, Secure Cross Border Trade

There are lot of documents and confidential data involved in international trade. Banks offer financial services and also act as middleman for cross border trades. The verification process plays a vital role and it takes months to years, to complete. The major problem is to maintain integrity and confidentiality of the data shared, and to maintain fair trading process. Blockchain technology is introduced to increase the efficiency and security of the documents shared to the needed parties in the trade. Permissioned blockchain is used wherein the participants of the network are controlled and governed by the blockchain owner. Hyperledger fabric platform is used to implement the trade finance application. The main idea is to automate the verification processes in order to complete the trade financing within minutes to hours and to enhance security of the documents shared using Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) in cross border trades. The smart contracts in blockchain provides functionalities to assure that the information is tamper-free, auditable and verifiable.

The Ethics of Architecture

The Ethics of Architecture offers a short and approachable scholarly introduction to a timely question: In a world of increasing population density, how does one construct habitable spaces that promote social goals like health, happiness, environmental friendliness, and justice? What are the special ethical obligations assumed by architects? Because their work creates the basic material conditions that make all other human activity possible, architects and their associates in building enjoy vast influence on how we all live, work, play, worship, and think. With this influence comes tremendous, and not always examined, responsibility. This book addresses the range of ethical issues that architects face, with a broad understanding of ethics. Beyond strictly professional duties—transparency, technical competence, fair trading—lie more profound issues that move into aesthetic, political, and existential realms. Does an architect have a duty to create art, if not always beautiful art? Should an architect feel obliged to serve a community and not simply the client? Is social justice a possible orientation for architectural practice? Is there such a thing as feeling compelled to “shelter being” in architectural work? By taking these usually abstract questions into the region of physical creation, the book attempts a concrete reformulation of “architectural ethics” as a matter of deep reflection on the architect’s role as both citizen and caretaker. Thinkers and makers discussed include Le Corbusier, Martin Heidegger, Lewis Mumford, Rem Koolhaas, Jane Jacobs, Arthur Danto, and John Rawls. An added preface addresses architectural issues arising during and after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Capital Market and Economic Growth in Nigeria: An Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds Testing Approach

The role of the capital market in the growth and development of any economy need not be over-emphasized. The capital market is a complex institution and mechanisms through which economic units desirous to invest their surplus fund, interact directly or through financial intermediaries with those who wish to procure funds for their businesses. The Nigerian capital market started operations in mid-1961 with eight stocks and equities; with about seven United Kingdom (UK) firms quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) which had, at the same time, dual quotations on the London Stock Exchange. This study examined the impact of the capital market on economic growth in Nigeria from 1981 to 2018. The expo facto research design was adopted for this study. The time-series data for the study were sourced from CBN statistical bulletin. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) was used with the aid of e-view 10 software. The ARDL Bounds test revealed the existence of a long-run relationship among the variables. The result revealed that market capitalization has positive and insignificant effects on economic growth both in the short and long run. There is unidirectional causality among the variables. The study recommended that regulatory authorities should restore confidence in the market by ensuring transparency and fair trading dealings and transactions in the market to enhance economic growth. There should be an improvement in the moribund market capitalization, by encouraging more foreign investors to participate in the market, maintain a state of the art technology like automated trading and settlement practices, electronic fund clearance, and eliminate physical transfer of shares.

Experiences from the Implementation of Community-Based Goat Breeding Programs in Malawi and Uganda: A Potential Approach for Conservation and Improvement of Indigenous Small Ruminants in Smallholder Farms

Maintaining diversity of small ruminant genetic resources is instrumental for sustainable agricultural production. Community-based livestock breeding programs (CBBPs) have emerged as a potential approach to implement breeding programs in smallholder farms. This study assesses the viability of CBBPs as a potential approach for conservation and improvement of indigenous small ruminants, using case studies of goat CBBPs in Malawi and Uganda. Data were collected using focus group discussions, personal interviews, and direct observations. The program promotes and empowers smallholders to have access to small ruminant feed resources through protection of existing communal pasturelands, capacity building in pasture production, and conservation of crop residues and crop by-products. Implementation of the CBBP enhances the contributions through improved animal growth performance, kids’ survival, and twinning rates leading to increased offtake rates and better prices. The existence of permanently established supporting organizations and other stakeholders provides sustainable institutional support instrumental for the establishment and growth of CBBPs. However, establishment of functional community-based institutions (producer cooperatives) and investments in institutional/policy reforms to safeguard fair trading, access to common resources by small ruminant keepers, and adoption of the CBBP model into national livestock development programs are some of the key milestones that can guarantee sustainability.