Comparative Analysis of Western and Russian Mineral Reserve Classifications

Despite that Georgia has signed an Association Agreement with the European Union, by today its geological-mining legislation has not been synchronized with European mining codes. Georgian Law on Earth’s Interior is a calque of the obsolete Soviet law with minimum updates. At the same time, development of the private mining business is hampered by olden standards of exploration reporting and estimation and approval of reserves, which also are vestiges of olden Soviet standards. The article analyses in-depth the Russian and the Western reserve reporting codes and proves that development of mining industry in Georgia calls for immediate legislative approval of the Western standards and foundation of the Competent Persons’ institute. Such actions will not only promote development of private mining businesses but harness the Georgian mineral resource fund to the betterment of the country.

Control without Confirmation: The Politics of Vacancies in Presidential Appointments

Scholarship on separation of powers assumes executives are constrained by legislative approval when placing agents in top policy-making positions. But presidents frequently fill vacancies in agency leadership with unconfirmed, temporary officials or leave them empty entirely. I develop a novel dataset of vacancies across 15 executive departments from 1977 to 2016 and reevaluate the conventional perspective that appointment power operates only through formal channels. I argue that presidents’ nomination strategies include leaving positions empty and making interim appointments, and this choice reflects presidents’ priorities and the character of vacant positions. The evidence indicates that interim appointees are more likely when positions have a substantial capacity to act on presidential expansion priorities and suggest that presidents can capitalize on their first-mover advantage to evade Senate confirmation. The results further suggest that separation of powers models may need to consider how deliberate inaction and sidestepping of formal powers influence political control and policy-making strategies.

The Status in Nigeria of Treaties Predating the 1979 Constitution: Reflections on JFS v. Brawal Line Ltd

It is an essential ingredient of sovereignty that every State has an absolute jurisdiction to determine the laws that apply within its territory and to determine, by its laws, the organ of the State that has the competence to make laws and the procedures to be followed. The competent organ that makes municipal law (the legislature) is usually different from the organ that makes international law (the executive). As a result, and following the dictates of separation of powers, while the executive is competent to enter into treaties, its competence is eroded by the competence of the legislature when a treaty is intended to be applied to municipal subjects; such a treaty intrudes into the competence of the legislature. When this occurs, the municipal applicability of the treaty would turn on the requirements specified by municipal law. This is the function of section 12(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). This section bars the executive from transforming its treaty-making power into legislative powers by requiring legislative approval for the application of a treaty in Nigeria. Expectedly, the section has been variously interpreted and applied by Nigerian courts. This paper examines the views expressed by the Supreme Court in JFS v. Brawal Line Ltd and argues that the Supreme Court failed to give proper expression to the dualist nature of that section.

4. Brexit and the UK Constitution

This chapter is, for obvious reasons, not a modification of the chapter from the previous edition. It is a completely new chapter, which considers the effect of Brexit on the UK constitution. There is discussion of the constitutional implications of triggering exit from the EU, and whether this could be done by the executive via the prerogative, or whether this was conditional on prior legislative approval through a statute. The discussion thereafter considers the constitutional implications of Brexit in terms of supremacy, rights, executive accountability to the legislature and devolution. The chapter concludes with discussion as to the paradox of sovereignty in the context of Brexit.

State Policy Outcomes and State Legislative Approval

Does the public’s approval of their state legislature reflect their satisfaction with the outputs of state government? Using survey responses from the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we consider the roots of public approval of state legislatures. We find that people are more likely to voice approval of their state legislature when it produces policy outcomes that correspond with their interests. Liberals view their state legislature more positively when policy outputs are liberal, while conservatives evaluate their state legislature more favorably when policy outcomes are conservative. These effects are the most pronounced among those who are the most knowledgeable about state politics. Using panel data from 2012 to 2014, we also show that changes in state policy liberalism are associated with changes in state legislative approval. Even though we have reasons to be pessimistic about the quality of citizens’ assessments of state government, our results demonstrate that citizens evaluate their state legislatures based on the policy outcomes they provide.

International Law in National Legal Systems

International legal scholars have long recognized the importance of the relationship between international law and domestic legal systems. This chapter draws upon a new data set, which covers 101 countries for the period 1815–2013 and records specific features of national approaches to international law, including treaty-making procedures, the status of treaties in domestic law, and the reception of customary international law. The chapter finds that national legal systems have become more likely to give treaties direct effect and hierarchical superiority over domestic law, but at the same time have steadily expanded the categories of treaties whose ratification requires prior legislative approval. With respect to CIL, the chapter finds that the vast majority of national legal systems now recognize custom as directly applicable, at least in principle, but generally consider it to be hierarchically inferior to domestic law. The chapter discusses the implications of these findings for comparative international law.

Beware the Asset Protection Trust

Civil law regimes in Europe have been cautiously open to the common law trust for commercial purposes, and to some forms of the private trust as well. This openness indicates that the time may be right to issue a warning to civil lawyers about the recent proliferation of highly problematic forms of the trust in the U. S., and to offer an explanation of the dysfunction which allowed these trusts to win legislative approval. Civil law may be less amenable to these forms of trust for reasons of social policy and legal philosophy as expressed in foundational legal texts. Recent changes to EU trust law and to French and Dutch tax law indicate that this may be the case. This article discusses these new trust forms and discusses some elements of civil law which, at least from a common lawyer’s perspective, offer some resistance to them.

Entre doentes e bandidos: a tramitação da lei de drogas (no 11.343/2006) no Congresso Nacional

This article analyses the historical legislative proce- dure, in Brazilian Congress, about the New Drug ́s Law 11.343 of 2006, which is the current Drug ́s Law in Brazil. The empirical material consists in projects and reports of parliamentarians who were active sin- ce the beginning of the procedure, in 2002, until the adoption of the new legal provision, in 2006. The ar- ticle aims to investigate three main questions: i) who were the main actors that influenced the legislative approval of the current drugs dispositif (committees leaders, editors, proponents parties, etc.); ii) what are the main changes regarding the criminalization of drug use and drug dealers in these proposals from the beginning of the law ́s procedure (2002) until when it had been approved (2006); iii) what were the main justifications in the particular historical context for changes in drug policy.

The Arkansas Governor’s Role in the Policy Process, 1955-1979

This paper examines gubernatorial influence on public policy in Arkansas. The paper looks at the governor's policy role during the past twenty-five years. The record is sketched of policy activism and the degree o f gubernatorial success in obtaining legislative approval. Influences on policy success analyzed include: formal powers, fiscal conditions, staff, tenure, electoral mandate and partisan margin in legislature.