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THE ROLE OF THE CISG IN CANADIAN CONTRACT PRACTICE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY
Get PDFIn much of the legal literature, the fact that the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) has been ratified by so many nations constitutes incontrovertible evidence of its success. This narrative fails to account, however, for the fact that private parties can choose to exclude the CISG from their international sales contracts. This Article draws upon a hand-collected dataset of contracts executed by public companies in Canada to show that these companies overwhelmingly choose to exclude the CISG from their international sales agreements. It also shows that these same companies are frequently unaware that selecting the law of a Canadian province can result in the application of the CISG and that few (if any) of these companies consciously select the CISG by selecting provincial law. While the Article turns up a few tantalizing hints that attorneys practicing in Quebec may be slightly more receptive to the CISG than attorneys practicing in the rest of Canada, the overall portrait that emerges is of a nation where this treaty is excluded by sophisticated actors in almost all cases. This finding raises important questions of whether the CISG is achieving its intended purpose of facilitating international trade
OPTING IN AND OPTING OUT: CAN THERE BE UNIFORM INTERPRETATION OR DOES VARIATIO DELECTAT GOVERN?
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Self-Driving Cars and Rural Areas: The Potential for a Symbiotic Relationship
Get PDFImagine getting in the driver’s seat of your car, setting your destination, then sitting back and watching a movie, answering emails, or even taking a nap during the ride. While this is hardly a new concept for passengers, it is a new phenomenon for the person in the driver’s seat. Now, imagine driving down a winding country road in the middle of the night when a white-tailed deer darts out in front of you. Your instinct is to slam on the brakes and jerk the wheel, an instinct that can often have devastating results for you, your car, and the deer. In a self-driving car, human panic, and therefore human error, is eliminated.Part I of this note begins with a general background on self-driving vehicles and their development to date. Part II provides a description of rural areas, including the classification of rural areas and their demographics. Part III examines current state laws that address self-driving vehicles, focusing on Pennsylvania. Part IV discusses why self-driving vehicles should be introduced to rural areas for testing. Part V reviews car accident statistics in Allegheny County and its rural neighbor Butler County, then compares and discusses these statistics to demonstrate how self-driving cars could have an immediate beneficial effect on rural areas. Part VI addresses the basic logistics of choosing the rural area to test drive and proposes how to select test drivers. Finally, Part VII addresses potential counterarguments to the introduction of self-driving vehicles in rural areas
Protection of Private Equity Investors under the Dodd-Frank Act
Get PDFIn securities law, investor protection means that an issuer of securities, here partnership interests for private equity, must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and be subject to disclosure, reporting, record-keeping compliance and examination programs. This Article argues that the Dodd-Frank Act has fulfilled part of its objective to protect private equity investors by forcing private equity managers to disclose information on their operations. Disclosure has provided greater transparency about how the business of private equity is conducted. The increased SEC scrutiny started in 2014 has uncovered unfair practices and violations of fiduciary duties that sophisticated investors could not detect on their own. Notwithstanding this improved transparency, the Dodd-Frank Act still falls short of imposing the main tool securities laws uses to protect investors: that is, full and fair disclosure. In other words, Dodd-Frank does not provide all the required protections that are important for investors to assess the quality of their investments and make informed decisions. This Article offers to expand transparency by additional public disclosure of investment returns, fees, and managers’ income.For other policy issues unrelated to the protection of investors, that is, jobs or tax, Title IV of the Dodd-Frank Act does not offer the appropriate setting. Applying or enacting legislation concerning tax, labor or bankruptcy laws can better curve the controversial practices of private equity firms
India: A Model for the Enforcement of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
Get PDFUnder the modern international human rights regime, all people are entitled to two categories of rights: civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights. While the judicial enforcement of civil and political rights is commonly accepted in virtually every country in the world, there is a significant degree of hostility towards the judicial enforcement of economic, social, and cultural rights. Critics have long held that the enforcement of these rights in the courtroom would be inherently undemocratic and unmanageable. This belief, and the general aversion to the judicial enforcement of these rights, is primarily rooted in the fact that the enforcement of these rights would require compelling the government to spend vast sums of money in the form of welfare programs. However, India has overcome these criticisms and emerged as a model for the enforcement of these rights. The following paper will serve to lay a foundational understanding of the modern international human rights regime, look to the functionality of both sets of rights, and examine how Indian jurisprudence has come to allow the enforcement of economic, social, and cultural rights in the courtroom. From there, this paper will examine PUCL v. Union of India, the landmark case that recognized the right to food in India, the impact this case has on the lives of the Indian people, and the economic impact of protecting the right to food in an attempt to demonstrate that the judicial enforcement of these rights is not only possible, but can also be done in an effective manner
Front Matter
No full textNOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS1. The Journal invites the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. Submissions and correspondence concerning publications should be addressed to Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Law and Commerce, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Barco Law Building, 3900 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.2. The Journal requests that manuscripts be accompanied by an abstract of not more than 200 words describing the contents of the article.3. Footnotes should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (20th ed. 2015).4. All manuscripts, including footnotes and abstracts, should be typed and submitted directly to the website.Published twice yearly: Fall, SpringAnnual Subscription Rate: U.S. ‑ 25.00Internet Address: http://jlc.law.pitt.edu/E-mail Address: [email protected] copies of Volume 36 are $11.00 and may be ordered from the Business Manager, Journal of Law and Commerce, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Barco Law Building, 3900 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.Volumes 1 through 35 may be ordered from William S. Hein & Co., Inc., 1285 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14209; (800) 828-7571.If subscription is to be discontinued at expiration, notice to that effect should be sent to the Journal office, otherwise it will be renewed
Disqualification of Company Directors: Safeguarding the Public Interest in the Kenyan Investment Market
Get PDFOver the last two decades, Africa has gone through tremendous economic transformation. It was only in 2004 when the Prime Minister for the UK, Tony Blair, described Africa as the “scar on the conscience of the world” when he was establishing the Commission for Africa. A decade later, he described Africa as “the most exciting continent on the planet because of its opportunities.” Within less than twenty years, the continent has become the world’s most rapidly growing economic region. This economic growth has been attributed largely to the active private sector. Kenya, for example, has realized the highest growth rate in the East African region due to its private sector, which makes a major contribution to the country’s GDP. For this growth rate to continue, African countries need to create competitive legal frameworks that continue to attract investors and protect their interests.One of such is the disqualification framework for company directors that seeks to protect the public by placing a prohibition on a miscreant director from being involved, for a specific period, in the management of companies. An efficient disqualification framework also prevents people without the necessary qualifications from managing companies and deters those who might be tempted to engage in fraudulent activities. Without a strict disqualification framework, investors are unlikely to be attracted to a country, as they risk losing their investments when their companies are managed by incompetent, negligent, or fraudulent directors, especially those with a track record of mismanaging other companies. This philosophy was captured clearly by the Kenyan Government when it enacted the Companies Act 2015 and stated that one of its key objectives was to facilitate commerce, industry, and other socio-economic activities. It is against this backdrop that this Article examines whether the disqualification framework under the Companies Act 2015 is adequate to protect the interests of investors. This framework is contrasted with the one that existed under the repealed Companies Act 1962 with a view to assessing whether the reforms are likely to bring about the desired changes.
Recognition of Foreign Judgments in China: The Liu Case and the “Belt and Road” Initiative
Get PDFIn June, 2017, the Wuhan Intermediate People’s Court became the first Chinese court to recognize a U.S. judgment in the case of Liu Li v. Tao Li & Tong Wu. The Liu case is a significant development in Chinese private international law, but represents more than a single decision in a single case. It is one piece of a developing puzzle in which the law on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in China is a part of a larger set of developments. These developments are inextricably tied to the “One Belt and One Road,” or “Belt and Road” Initiative first announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping on a visit to Kazakhstan in 2013. This article traces the development of the Liu case, from the first judgment in California to the decision to recognize and enforce that judgment in Wuhan, China. It then provides the context within which the decision on recognition and enforcement was made, and the way the decision fits within President Xi’s “Belt and Road” Initiative and the pronouncements of the Chinese People’s Supreme Court which have encouraged the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments as part of that Initiative
