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The Impact of Corporate Governance on the Continuity of Family Businesses in Saudi Arabia
Get PDFIn small villages, in cities booming with commerce, in remote fishing communities, and massive marketplaces, in tropical destinations, and in corners of the globe few have ever visited, one is always able to find family businesses. From small wares being sold to neighbors, to huge corporations with billions in assets, families hold and always have held a segment of the global market that cannot be ignored. While family businesses have existed throughout history, legal advice and governance specifically geared toward them, which holds the success of the family business at the center of the laws, has never been a focus of those regulating the family corporations.
This research studies the best corporate governance frameworks and focuses on finding the best practical solutions for family businesses in Saudi Arabia which operates under Sharia Law. Sharia Law defines “The entire religion (Islam), which Allah has chosen for his servants to bring them forth thereby from the depths of darkness into the light. It is what He has prescribed for them and what He has explained to them of commands and prohibitions, halaal and haraam.” A family enterprise governed by local, national, and global laws and also operating under the beliefs of Sharia Law faces a whole host of potential conflicts. While family businesses of all sizes, listed or unlisted in the Stock Market, will face these similar issues and challenges, for the purposes of this research high-mid and larger businesses will be the primary focus, but it should be noted that the problems described here are not exclusive to the highest earning family corporations, but do in fact affect them all. Appropriate governance of family enterprises will keep the entrepreneur, their family, the employees, partner or investors, stakeholders or shareholders, suppliers, and contractor’s best interests in mind, while also staying aware of the unique relationships within the founding family, and ideally be applicable across many markets including those governed by Sharia Law, such as within Saudi Arabia.
Lawyers have a responsibility to understand the businesses they are advising, and lawmakers have to serve their constituency by vesting themselves in understanding all aspects of the laws they consider. To consider laws regarding businesses, they must research the various businesses they will potentially be passing or denying laws over. This paper serves to show how a better knowledge of the beliefs, culture, and traditions a family holds closely to, along with focusing on the success and growth of enterprises specifically held by families, can give lawyers and consultants new and valuable insights. This more well-rounded perspective is sure to benefit the family owned businesses and lead them into a better future.
When lawyers consider the unique challenges faced by family businesses, they will be better able to both advise and guide them. Agency cost, relationships between family members, ownership vs management, and other issues all affect family businesses more acutely than corporately owned enterprises. As lawyers recognize these factors, they will develop a great understanding and also be more prepared to help the families they work with
Pooling Mental Health Data with Chatbots
No full textCHAPTER ABSTRACT: Drawing upon the GKC framework, this chapter presents an ethnographic study of Woebot – a therapy chatbot designed to administer a form of cognitive behavioral therapy (“CBT”). Section 3.1 explains the methodology of this case study. Section 3.2 describes the background contexts that relate to anxiety as a public health problem. These include the nature of anxiety and historical approaches to diagnosing and treating it, the ascendency of e-Mental Health therapy provided through apps, and relevant laws and regulations. Section 3.3 describes how Woebot was developed and what goals its designers pursued. Section 3.4 describes the kinds of information that users share with Woebot. Section 3.5 describes how the designers of the system seek to manage this information in a way that benefits users without disrupting their privacy.https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facbooks/1241/thumbnail.jp
The Right Against Self-Incrimination Under Indian Constitution & the Admissibility of Custodial Statements Under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872
Get PDFThis work argues that the constitutional validity of section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 is highly suspect on the ground that it violates the right against self-incrimination protected by article 20(3) of the Indian Constitution. Section 27 codifies the doctrine of confirmation by subsequent recovery, an old British rule of admission according to which self-incriminatory custodial statements and/or confessions obtained by the police or the investigation agency are admissible into evidence on the ground that contents of such statement have been confirmed by recovery of incriminating physical evidence. Chapter I locates the Indian criminal justice system within the tradition of Due Process Model as distinguished with Crime Control Model by Prof. Herbert Packer. Chapter II locates section 27 within the Indian criminal justice system and examines the legal and constitutional issues that arise out of the doctrine of confirmation by subsequent recovery. It finds that there is a direct correlation, bordering on partial causation, between custodial torture and other such police misconduct and section 27 of the Evidence Act. Chapter III studies the jurisprudence of section 27 as evolved by the Privy Council (the highest court of criminal appeal in British India) and later by the Supreme Court of India (the highest court of criminal appeal in Republic of India) and classifies this jurisprudence into four distinct schools of thought, viz., (i) the Classical Position, (ii) the Narrow Textual Position, (iii) the Wider Textual Position, and (iv) the Technical Position. This classification is an original contribution and offered on doctrinal support. It is found that these four schools of thought are incoherent, contradictory, and insufficient, and that there is an urgent need for this entire legal position to be either legislatively, or judicial re-examined. Chapters IV and V study the right against self-incrimination which is protected as a fundamental right under article 20(3) of the Indian Constitution and can be enforced by any ‘person’ (as distinguished from ‘citizen’) by either directly approaching the Supreme Court of India under article 32, or any jurisdictional state High Court under article 226 of the Constitution. Chapter IV offers a ‘historical analysis’ of this right and Chapter V offers a ‘textual analysis.’ Since the right against self-incrimination, as protected by article 20(3) constitutionally prohibits ‘compulsion,’ Chapter V makes an original contribution by offering a classification thereof, viz., (i) Judicial Compulsion, (ii) Extra-Judicial Compulsion, and (iii) Non-Judicial Compulsion. In addition, the textual analysis also delves into the ‘right’ that is protected by article 20(3), the beneficiary of that right, and the corresponding duty that emerges. Based on the historical and textual analysis of article 20(3), and the doctrine developed therefrom, this work argues that unlike the US Constitution Fifth Amendment doctrine that tolerates Extra-Judicial Compulsion (see Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436) the Indian Constitution prohibits all three forms of ‘compulsion’ but tolerates Judicial Compulsion (see section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973). Section 27 is therefore unconstitutional because it allows Extra-Judical Compulsion to be practiced in India whereas it is, inter alia, prohibited under article 20(3). Chapter VI offers a summary of analysis and conclusions
Why a Federal Wealth Tax is Constitutional
Get PDFThe 2020 Democratic presidential primaries brought national attention to a new direction for the tax system: a federal wealth tax for the wealthiest taxpayers. During their campaigns, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) both introduced proposals to tax the wealth of multimillionaires and billionaires, and to use the revenue for public investments, including in health care and education. These reforms generated broad public support—even among many Republicans—and broadened the conversation over the future of progressive tax reform.
A well-designed, high-end wealth tax can level the playing field in an unequal society and promote shared economic prosperity.
Critics have argued, however, that a wealth tax would be unconstitutional because of the Constitution’s apportionment rule, which requires certain taxes to be apportioned among the states according to their populations. These critics advance maximalist interpretations of the apportionment rule and reconstruct the rule as a significant limit on Congress’s constitutional taxing power.
In response to these objections, this brief explains why these critics misinterpret the role of the apportionment rule, and why the Constitution grants Congress broad taxing powers that allow for a wealth tax, whether it is apportioned or not. The maximalist interpretations misapprehend the role of apportionment in the constitutional structure, and improperly elevate a peripheral rule into a major barrier to tax reform.
This brief explains why constitutional history and Supreme Court precedents instead support a measured interpretation of the apportionment rule. This measured interpretation preserves apportionment’s role in the constitutional structure—and does not read the provision out of the Constitution—but also does not improperly inflate the rule into a fundamental limitation to Congress’s taxing power. Under this interpretation, the Constitution allows Congress to enact an unapportioned wealth tax but would still require apportionment for some other forms of taxes, such as a tax on real estate alone.
This brief offers a descriptive analysis of the constitutional provisions and consequently describes how any member of the Supreme Court should evaluate a federal wealth tax, regardless of the member’s personal motives or policy preferences. Discussions of the constitutionality of a wealth tax sometimes conflate this descriptive analysis—as to what the Constitution in fact does and should require—with a predictive analysis of how particular members of the current Supreme Court might rule. Although this brief primarily offers a descriptive analysis of the constitutional provisions and what they require, the final section addresses the separate question of whether Congress should enact a wealth tax at a time when particular members of the Supreme Court may rely upon maximalist arguments to strike it down.
A federal wealth tax warrants sustained and careful debate on the merits: how it should be designed, how it will affect economic activity and tax revenues, and how it should interact with other taxes. This important debate, however, should not be short-circuited by reflexive arguments that a wealth tax would be unconstitutional. Rather, voters and legislators should determine the scope and design of a federal wealth tax, as the Constitution ultimately requires
Work and Caregiving During COVID-19 and Pregnant Employees and New Parents
Get PDFProfessor Widiss contributed chapter 6 Work and Caregiving During COVID-19 and chapter 8 Pregnant Employees and New Parents in this Open Access book edited by Jeffrey Hirsh and Sachin Pandya.
The two Widiss chapters, combined into one .pdf file, can be downloaded above, or the entire book can be viewed HERE.https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facbooks/1253/thumbnail.jp
No Voice, No Exit, But Loyalty? Puerto Rico and Constitutional Obligation
Get PDFThis Essay contextualizes Puerto Rico not as an anomalous colonial vestige but as fundamentally a part of the United States\u27 ongoing commitment to racial economic domination. We are thrilled to highlight this work, which indicts our constitutional complacence with the second-class status of Puerto Rican citizens and demands a national commitment to self-determination for Puerto Rico
A Taxonomy on Constitutional Court Appointment Mechanisms in Federal Countries
Get PDFThis paper provides a taxonomy of how federal countries appoint judges to their highest courts. Appointment mechanisms involve (1) little or no meaningful input from state government, (2) the states acting in an indirect role, or (3) substantial state government input. Within-group one, countries that allow for little to no meaningful input from state governments, some countries require that one federal body check another federal body during the appointment process, such as the federal executive’s nominees are confirmed by the federal senate. I first evaluate which court or entity in each country answers federalism questions, whether that is a Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, or a commission. I then look at how members of that body are appointed and evaluate that procedure for level of state input
Dean\u27s Desk: Graduation, student excellence and trailblazing alumni
Get PDFOn Saturday, May 8, the Maurer School of Law will celebrate the Class of 2021 in its annual graduation ceremony. The day before, students will have walked across the stage in their regalia and participated in a hooding ceremony as part of a formal, in-person university commencement. The pandemic is forcing us to hold the school’s individual celebration on Zoom, but many of our traditions continue. Family and friends will attend, we’ll hear from student and faculty speakers, each graduate will be honored individually, and we’ve even chosen a talented student to sing the Alma Mater.
Looking back on a very unusual academic year, the positive and can-do attitude of our students, faculty and staff was impressive. While most of our first-year students attended classes in person, many of our upper-division and graduate degree students needed to take their courses online. Although there were hardships and family challenges — and law students, like everyone, are Zoom-fatigued — students stepped up and made us proud. Even in a difficult year, they excelled, and their record of achievement speaks so well for the future of our profession. I don’t have space to list everything, but I felt I would share a few notable highlights from the past few months