Bibliographie sélective OHADA

Les technologies de l’information et de la communication impactent largement de nombreuses branches du droit. Le droit des obligations n’y fait pas exception et de nombreux contrats sont désormais conclus en ligne, quel que soit le terminal utilisé. Le recours à ce moyen de communication n’est pas sans influence sur la perfection du contrat, en particulier sur les modes d’expression de la volonté dans l’univers numérique. En effet, ce dernier offre de vastes perspectives en termes d’instantanéité, d’immatérialité et d’automatisation de l’expression du consentement contractuel, conduisant à s’interroger sur la validité des contrats formés par voie électronique. L’observation des pratiques qui se sont installées sur l’internet permet de mesurer aujourd’hui le net impact du numérique sur l’expression du consentement contractuel, c’est-à-dire sur les volontés des internautes cocontractants, ainsi que sur le mécanisme de rencontre de celles-ci. Les volontés individuelles se sont ainsi vues soumises à un processus constitué d’une série d’étapes obligatoires, supposées limiter les cas dans lesquels la perfection de la convention interviendrait par erreur. Ce découpage ouvre toutefois la voie à l’automatisation de l’expression des volontés et de leur rencontre, annonçant alors l’ère de contrats conclus voire exécutés en un trait de temps grâce aux récentes avancées de l’intelligence artificielle appliquée au domaine juridique. La traditionnelle dichotomie entre formation et exécution du contrat révèle alors ses limites, et la théorie de l’autonomie de la volonté, envisagée comme seul fondement de la force obligatoire du contrat, se heurte à l’apparition de modes inédits d’expression du consentement.

The Competition Act 89 of 1998 applies equally to all firms with regard to anti-competitive behaviour regardless whether it is privately or publicly owned. Therefore it applies to stateowned enterprises (SOEs) if their actions fall short of the Act. There is however one aspect relating to SOEs which is not covered by the application of the Competition Act but may have a significant impact on free and fair competition and can be of big concern for private competitors of SOEs. Since discriminatory policies during Apartheid have created a huge inequality gap in post-Apartheid South Africa, the government has to be actively involved in the economy to address the inequality. Therefore the government uses SOEs as vehicles to achieve its developmental goals. As a result SOEs in South Africa which are active market participants may always rely on the financial support of the state. They may do so purely because of their crucial governmental mandates regardless of financial mismanagement, poor corporate governance and deep seated corruption in almost every SOE. Even though the fundamental need for the existence of SOEs in South Africa is acknowledge, it is argued that state financial aid could qualify as a state-initiated constraint on competition in South Africa as it creates an uneven playing field between SOEs and their private competitors, which is always skewed in favour of the SOEs. It may create warped incentives and SOEs may not compete efficiently if they know that they are protected by a state sponsored safety net. This dissertation asks the question whether the time has not arrived in South Africa for state aid to SOEs to be subjected to a certain degree of scrutiny in order to bring about a level playing field between SOEs and their private competitors. It is recognised that privatisation of SOEs is not always the better option as it could threaten the delivery of basic services and goods to poorer South Africans. Hence, the dissertation investigates whether a state aid control model, based on the European Union state aid rules, is not perhaps a solution to address the potential distortion of free and fair competition by state financial aid. It proposes a customised state aid control regime for South Africa which provides for an active role by the competition authorities in state aid decisions and it presents draft legislation which could be used as a basis for the implementation in South Africa of a regulated system of state financial aid to SOEs (and even private enterprises where applicable).

On 1 July 2017, the Commission of the European Union (Commission) announced that investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) was dead. Apart from the fundamental public distrust of ISDS, its rejection by the European Union (EU) is a symptom of several underlying causes, the foremost of which is the need to protect the autonomy of the EU legal order and its right to regulate public policy objectives, as well as to avoid jurisdictional conflicts. With this backdrop EU state aid law, which enjoys public policy status, has emerged as a major example of the conflict between investor protection and the right to regulate. As state aid law imposes measures on the EU Member States that conflict with these states’ international obligations to foreign investors under bilateral investment treaties (BITs), they have become subject to claims and substantial liabilities. This dilemma can arise in any setting that involves the EU or one or more of its Member States. It also includes relations with non-EU countries, as the web of international investment agreements (IIAs) operates, in different forms, on an international scale. Therefore, this dilemma and the EU’s responses to it is analysed through the different forms in which EU state aid law appears, dependent on the EU investment policy aspect utilised as a platform for analysis. Utilising a doctrinal analysis by studying, discussing and analysing the impact of EU state aid law on the EU Member States’ BITs and EU Trade Agreements, this dissertation provides an insight into the function and logic behind international treaties involving the EU’s competition and investment policy. This is done by utilising the research question: How does the European Union (EU) state aid law affect the future of EU investment policy in a global context? Further, this thesis puts forward three arguments in which EU state aid law is affecting the future of EU investment policy in a global context. First, state aid law applies in the EU’s incorporation of clauses promoting fair competition and state aid policy in international trade agreements. Second, state aid law and policy has contributed to recent EU internal development, which led the EU Member States to terminate their bilateral agreements with each other (intra-EU BITs) by the end of 2019. Third, the EU has been working towards replacing the existing BITs between the EU’s Member States and third countries (extra-EU BITs) with the EU’s own trade agreements, which are aligned with EU legislation. Essentially, this thesis golden thread is a debate on who gets to decide on the scope of state aid law now and in the future. In other words, is it the EU that sets the borders and the status of state aid law and policy law regarding investment protection or the international investment tribunals by their legal practice? Hence, this thesis offers a glimpse of a conceivable future of EU investment policy in a global context. An analysis of the relevant literature, and observation of recent policy changes on its subject matter, as reflected in the Commission’s policy documents, the EU’s international agreements and declarations by the Member States, leads to the findings of this dissertation. A conflict situation that originated from legal conflicts within the EU, the EU experience of investment protection and state aid regarding intra-EU BITs, provided some lessons to learn for the EU organs. These lessons learned have found expression on a global scale. By incorporating fair competition and state aid policy in international trade the EU is reasserting that it is the EU that decides on state aid law and policy law regarding investment protection. Indeed, the EU is attempting to tame investment protection in such a way that fair competition and investment protection can peacefully coexist in international trade. Ultimately, the interplay of state aid and the EU’s investment policy within the internal market reflects on the external trade relations of both the Member States and the EU through this practice. Thus, state aid law affects and will continue to affect the future of EU investment policy in a global context.

La recherche a essayé d’affiner les phénomènes juridiques de la libéralisation des biens et des services, dite de première génération, en faveur d’une politique d’intégration économique régionale, sous l’emprise de la mondialisation, afin d’établir la Communauté économique de l’ASEAN. Cependant, la question de l’existence des règles substantielles de droit est sous-estimée au regard des juristes internationaux, et est pertinente pour l’Association ; autrement dit, l’ASEAN se fonde principalement sur le soft-law, ASEAN Way, qui a ralenti effectivement la réalisation de sa politique d’intégration économique. Afin de surmonter de ces défis, cette thèse a opté une approche de droit international public afin d’examiner le mécanisme d’élaboration des règles conventionnelles ainsi que non conventionnelles de cet Association. De plus, le droit international économique est également un choix méthodologique pour ce travail de recherche sur les questions techniques essentielles dans le processus de la création du marché unique de l’ASEAN. En résultat, nous avons découvert que le droit matériel de l’ASEAN est bien existé et continue à développer progressivement au sens propre du droit international. D’ailleurs, les mécanismes institutionnels administratifs ainsi que juridictionnels sont été observés dont leur fonctionnement est impliqué de manière pragmatique pour la mise en œuvre de ces règles matérielles en matière de la libre circulation des biens et services. Malgré que ces règles de droit connaissent les critiques tant à ses effectivité et efficacité à cause de sa caractère souple et non contraignant, l’harmonisation juridique sectorielle est achevée vers la direction de la construction du droit communautaire de l’ASEAN. En conclusion, la régionalisation économique de l’ASEAN se fonde effectivement sur son cadre juridique propre, en basant sur le pluralisme juridique et est conforme au droit international.

En décembre 2010, l'entreprenant faisait son apparition dans le droit des affaires de I'OHADA. L'AUDCG présente ce nouvel acteur comme un entrepreneur individuel qui, sur simple déclaration, exerce une activité civile, commerciale, artisanale ou agricole. C'est un professionnel qui exerce, en son nom propre, une activité civile ou commerciale. Comparativement aux autres entrepreneurs individuels, il est censé bénéficier de facilités aussi bien dans ses démarches administratives que dans ses obligations. C'est en s’inspirant de l'auto-entrepreneur (désormais appelé micro-entrepreneur) qui a connu un grand succès en France que le législateur africain a créé ce statut particulier. Il espère par ce moyen, séduire les opérateurs du secteur informel et les inciter à se formaliser. Pres d'une décennie après l'adoption du nouveau statut, très peu de pays de I'OHADA l'ont rendu opérationnel et, contrairement à l'auto-entrepreneur français, il est loin de susciter l'engouement des opérateurs du secteur informel. A cause de son accès conditionné et des innombrables règles auxquelles il oblige à se soumettre, ce statut est loin d'être avantageux pour des personnes habituées à I 'informalité.

L'importance des secrets d'affaires dans l'essor de l'économie mondiale n'est plus à démontrer. Ils sont, selon les indicateurs les plus fiables, la partie la plus importante du patrimoine des sociétés qui détiennent les plus grandes fortunes du monde. Mais force est de constater que leur protection dans l'arbitrage commercial international est peu effective. Ils sont victimes de divulgations licites ou illicites qui les exposent. Pour une meilleure protection des secrets d'affaires durant une procédure arbitrale, des mesures correctives sont nécessaires. Ces mesures doivent concourir à redéfinir un cadre juridique pratique dont le fondement et la justification est la protection de l'information qui a une valeur commerciale et économique. Pour ce vaste chantier, la contribution des usagers et praticiens de l'arbitrage commercial international est indéniable mais celle des États est indispensable.

This thesis examines the impact of adoption of IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) on two aspects of the operation of capital markets. Firstly, the impact of adoption of IFRS on financial reporting comparability, market liquidity, and cost of capital. Secondly, the impact of adoption of IFRS on seasoned equity offering (SEO) underperformance. To examine the impact of adoption of IFRS on financial reporting comparability, market liquidity, and cost of capital, the study used meta-analysis of empirical studies published since 2000. Meta-analysis provides an objective view of the empirical results, in contrast to narrative reviews, which offer subjective conclusions. From meta-analysis of 55 empirical studies with 1,259 effect sizes, the study finds that IFRS adoption has increased financial reporting comparability, market liquidity, and reduced cost of equity. For cost of debt, a decrease is observed only for voluntary adoption. The meta-regression analysis shows how the results differ across mandatory and voluntary adoption of IFRS and that the measurement choices, type of control variables, study design, and strength of empirical results explain the variation in the observed effect of adoption of IFRS. To examine the impact of adoption of IFRS on SEO underperformance the study analyses a large sample of SEOs from 51 countries over the period 1992-2017. Given that the empirical literature on SEOs has established that information asymmetry contributes to SEO underperformance, it is important to assess whether adoption of IFRS has reduced the uncertainties surrounding SEOs and, thus, subsequent underperformance. The study employs a control sample of non-IFRS adoption countries and applies a difference-in-difference (DiD) design to test for the incremental change for IFRS adoption countries over non-IFRS adoption countries. The study finds that SEO underperformance reduces for IFRS adopters relative to non-IFRS adopters in the post-adoption period. The reduction in SEO underperformance is influenced by increased disclosure, increased comparability, and number of accounting changes. The study also finds that the impact of adoption of IFRS on SEO underperformance exists only for firms in countries with strong enforcement, and is conditional on the implementation credibility of countries. The findings are robust to the application of a different measure of SEO underperformance. Overall, the study suggests that IFRS has had a positive impact on capital markets. However, increased disclosure, comparability, and credible implementation play important roles in realising the benefits of adoption of IFRS. Thus, policymakers of weak enforcement countries are encouraged to strengthen their institutional environment in order to reap the benefits that adoption of IFRS can provide to their capital market.

This study examines and critiques New Zealand intellectual property protection for industrial designs, taking into account that many New Zealand industrial design owners outsource manufacture of their designs to China. Industrial design, which refers to improving the aesthetics of products to increase their marketability, is evolving conceptually and practically. In New Zealand, copyright and registered design laws each protect, respectively, the visual expression and the “eye appeal” of an original design. As design practices evolve with advances in technology however, it is increasingly evident that industrial design is about more than just visual expression or “eye appeal”. Many designers are not focusing solely on product stylisation and decoration, but on the provision of a more holistic product experience for the consumer. The development process of industrial designs from concept to marketable product is also changing, with many New Zealand industrial design owners employing increasingly efficient design development strategies. The fast-paced, cost-effective infrastructure of China is often utilised by New Zealand businesses for the manufacture of industrial designs. This study therefore sought to determine how to appropriately protect New Zealand industrial designs, in light of: a. foreseeable advances in technology; and b. the fact that many New Zealand industrial designs are manufactured in China. To answer these questions, this study examined and analysed New Zealand’s copyright and registered design laws, taking into account not only existing protections, but also factors that are likely to be of significant relevance in the future, such as the impact on industrial design from developments in 3D printing and virtual reality. The Chinese intellectual property regime for industrial designs was also examined because China is a major trading partner and often, as noted, the locus of manufacture. The study included an empirical investigation, in the form of interviews with designers and design academics as well as legal practitioners specialising in intellectual property law. The input of the interviewees, together with the legal analysis, informed a series of suggestions and recommendations for New Zealand policy and its law-makers regarding how industrial design protection can be improved. A key finding of this study was that existing legal protections do not appropriately protect increasingly holistic designs, as well as new types of designs emerging from developing fields such as virtual reality. In assessing the appropriateness of protection, the interests of industrial design owners were balanced against the public interest in protecting the public domain. It is suggested that to achieve equilibrium copyright law should be expanded to protect design expressions for all senses. Moreover, new categories of copyright protected works should be introduced to accommodate emerging design. The definition of design in registered design law should also be reconceptualised in order to acknowledge new types of designs and evolving design practices. Industrial design owners who outsource manufacturing to China can protect their designs via copyright as well as design patent. However, enforcement of intellectual property protection is unsatisfactory in many areas of China. Therefore, New Zealand industrial design owners should also employ non-legal protection strategies. Interviews with successful businesses, in the course of the empirical investigation for this study, revealed that the leveraging of existing relationships of those with already established operations in China, and intentionally splitting an industrial design’s component parts for manufacture among several factories in different locations, are useful strategies to employ.

Most OECD countries’ value-added tax (VAT) systems apply reduced VAT rates to a selection of expenditure items in order to achieve distributional goals, and – to a lesser extent – social, cultural and employment-related goals. This thesis investigates the distributional effects of the VAT in OECD countries, and the merits of using reduced VAT rates to achieve distributional goals. The research adopts a microsimulation modelling approach that draws on household expenditure microdata from household budget surveys for an unprecedented 27 OECD countries. A consistent microsimulation methodology is adopted to ensure cross-country comparability of results. Non-behavioural VAT microsimulation models are first built to examine the overall distributional impact of the current VAT systems in each country. The research assesses the competing methodological approaches used in previous studies, highlighting the misleading effect of savings patterns on cross-sectional analysis when VAT burdens are measured relative to income. Measuring VAT burdens relative to expenditure – thereby removing the influence of savings – is found to provide a more reliable picture of the distributional impact of the VAT. On this basis, the VAT is found to be either roughly proportional or slightly progressive in most of the 27 OECD countries examined. Nevertheless, results for a small number of countries (Chile, Hungary, Latvia and New Zealand) highlight that broad-based VAT systems that have few reduced VAT rates or exemptions can produce a small degree of regressivity. Results also show that even a roughly proportional VAT can still have significant equity implications for the poor – potentially pushing some households into poverty. Behavioural VAT microsimulation models are then built for 23 OECD countries to investigate whether reduced VAT rates are an effective way to support poorer households, and whether the use of targeted cash transfers would be more effective. The behavioural microsimulation methodology follows the Linear Expenditure System based approach of Creedy and Sleeman (2006). Complementing this approach, a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) is estimated specifically for New Zealand, thereby providing the first estimates of a QUAIDS model based on New Zealand data. Simulation results show that, as a whole, the reduced VAT rates present in most OECD countries tend to have a small progressive impact. However, despite this progressivity, reduced VAT rates are shown to be a highly ineffective mechanism for targeting support to poorer households: not only do rich households benefit from reduced rates, but they benefit more in aggregate terms than poor households do. When looking at reduced VAT rates applied to specific products, results are found to vary considerably. Reduced VAT rates specifically introduced to support the poor (such as reduced rates on food consumed at home and domestic utilities) are generally found to have a progressive impact, though rich households still receive a larger aggregate benefit than poor households. In contrast, reduced VAT rates introduced to address non-distributional goals (such as reduced rates on restaurants, hotels, and cultural and social expenditure) often have a regressive impact. Additional simulation results show that an income-tested cash transfer will better target support to poorer households than reduced VAT rates in all countries. Furthermore, even a universal cash transfer is found to better target poorer households than reduced VAT rates. However, results also show that it is very difficult for an income-tested cash transfer to fully compensate all poor households for the removal of reduced VAT rates. This is due to the significant variation in the underlying consumption patterns across households. While a small number of poor households lose out from replacing reduced VAT rates with targeted cash transfers, those that receive support are instead determined by income and family characteristics as opposed to consumption tastes – thereby increasing horizontal equity. Furthermore, many households are lifted out of poverty as revenue previously transferred to richer households is now transferred to poorer households. These results empirically confirm the theoretical expectation that, where available, direct mechanisms (whether via the income tax or benefit system) will better achieve distributional goals than reduced VAT rates. Countries that currently employ reduced VAT rates to achieve distributional goals should therefore consider removing these reduced rates and adjusting their income tax or benefit systems to achieve these distributional goals instead. Countries should also consider removing reduced VAT rates aimed at non-distributional goals where a more effective instrument is available to achieve the particular policy goal. At a minimum, the merits of these reduced VAT rates should be reassessed in light of their negative distributional impact.

Liability insurance concerns an insured’s insurance of its legal liability towards a third party for the latter’s loss. This specialised type of insurance is rather neglected in South African insurance law. There is a lack of understanding of the intricacies of liability insurance and its unique challenges. This flows primarily from its complex nature as third-party insurance, which involves legal obligations between multiple parties, and a lack of statutory regulation of the distinctive contractual aspects of liability insurance. Furthermore, limited authority exists on contentious legal aspects as a result of the relatively small number of judicial decisions in this field of law. It is also evident that liability insurance constantly evolves as new grounds of liability emerge and new insurance products develop in response to the changing demands of society. The rise of consumerism and the increase in third-party claims amplify the economic significance of the law of liability insurance in South Africa. A substantial knowledge gap remains in our jurisprudence, irrespective of the recent introduction of new statutory instruments aimed at regulating insurance practice in general. These reforms have not as yet been applied critically to liability insurance, and no specialised legislation in South Africa regulates aspects of this branch of insurance as is the case with microinsurance. The focus in this thesis is on two main issues: the insurer’s duty effectively to indemnify the insured, and the insurer’s defence and settlement of third-party claims brought against the insured. As a subsidiary theme, this thesis analyses legal uncertainties that may persist during pre-contractual negotiations, the liability insurance contract lifecycle, and even after the expiry of the contract. Legal challenges can be addressed by novel and creative application of the national law. Potential solutions can be gleaned from the other progressive jurisdictions reviewed – English and Belgian law. It is evident that this research may prompt Parliament to develop specific rules and regulations for liability insurance contract law. This thesis includes a check list of some of the most important disclosure duties for procuring liability insurance cover, its operation, and claims processes.

This thesis proposed for the reform of Africa’s Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) landscape through the establishment of a Pan-African Investment Court (PAIC) as a mechanism for the resolution of Investor-State Disputes. This proposal is influenced by the findings of my investigation on the functioning of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) through the deployment of Investor-State Arbitration to resolve Investor-State Disputes between African states and foreign investors. This research is motivated by the criticisms of the Arbitration mechanism by a broad spectrum of constituencies within international investment law. These criticisms are primarily anchored on the legitimacy crises of ISDS, a dissatisfactory notion that denounces the deployment of the private mechanism and privity of contract ingrained investment arbitration framework to resolve publicly-inclined investor-state disputes. Ancillary to this critical holy grail are further dissatisfactions on the practical functionality of investment arbitration in aspects of high volume of cases against developing states, lack of diversity in the appointment of arbitrators and curtailment of sovereignty of host states through the intrusion of provisions of International Investment Agreements on legitimate internal decision-making powers. Consequently, this thesis investigated the practical functioning of ISDS in African states. After the study of the experiences of Egypt, South Africa and Tanzania; it was found that the legitimacy crises of ISDS also impacts on African states, and does not support their socio-economic and sustainable developmental aspirations. As a remedy, I proposed for a reform to an Investment Court System (ICS) through the establishment of a Pan-African Investment Court (PAIC). An evaluation of this recommendation was conducted that evidenced potential challenges that may mitigate its feasibility, thus leading to the advancement of two secondary reform alternatives vis the reform and retention of the current investor-state arbitration framework and engagement in innovative treaty-making practices by African states. To the best of my knowledge, this thesis has not been previously submitted in any higher institution or published by another person. The contents of this thesis are my ideas. Where the materials of others were used, due acknowledgement and reference was provided. Acknowledgements

A Integração Tripartida entre Comunidade de Desenvolvimento da África Austral (SADC), Comunidade da África Oriental (EAC) e Mercado Comum de África Oriental e Austral (COMESA) é uma inciativa de Chefes de Estado e de Governos das três Comunidades Económicas Regionais (CERs) em integrar seus separados programas numa única área de livre comércio. A iniciativa enquadra-se no contexto do Plano de Acção de Lagos (1980) e do Tratado de Abuja (1991) que consideram as CERs como pilares para criação da Comunidade Económica Africana (CEA). A Tese tem como principal objectivo analisar os desafios da cooperação intra-regional e perspectivas da integração tripartida entre SADC-EACCOMESA. Com base na pesquisa qualitativa coadjuvada pelas técnicas documental e bibliográfica constatou-se que a construção dos processos de integração regional na SADC e EAC evoluiram de padrões de confrontação para cooperação enquanto a COMESA foi por excelência um espaço priviligiado para cooperação comercial. Ainda assim, as três CERs enfrentam mesmos desafios relacionados com a sobreposição dos Estados membros, proliferação de “esquemas informais” de integração regional, dependência das CERs em relação aos doadoers internacionais, fragmentação de mercados nacional e regional e a prevalência da vontade de Estados membros sobre processos de integração regional. Face a estes desafios, a implementação da integração tripartida gera dúvidas e incertezas.

ukuk davaları yaygın şekilde mahkemeden istenen hukuk himayeye göre bir sınıflandırılmaya tabi tutulmaktadır. Kişiler arasında geçerli olarak kurulan bir hukuki ilişkiyi bertaraf ederek yeni bir hukuki durum tesis eden davalar inşai davalar, bu davaların kabulü üzerine verilen mahkeme kararları ise inşai hükümler olarak adlandırılır. İnşai hükümler o zamana kadar var olmayan, ancak hükmün kesinleşmesiyle birlikte ortaya çıkan bir yeni bir hukuki durum yaratırlar. Kural olarak inşai hükümler herkese karşı etkilidir ve istenilen etkiyi doğurmak için icraya ya da herhangi bir aracıya ihtiyaç duymazlar. Özel hukuk alanında inşai davalar aile hukuku ve ticaret hukukunda yoğunlaşmakla birlikte, usul hukuk ve takip hukuk alanında inşai dava örnekleri de bulunmaktadır. Keza çekişmeli yargıda olduğu kadar çekişmesiz yargı işlerinde, geçici hukuki koruma tedbirleri görünümünde de inşai sonuç doğuran mahkeme kararlarına rastlanır. Bu tezde inşai hükümle ilgili temel kavramlar ele alındıktan sonra inşai hükmün özellikleri, türleri ve hükmün inşai etkisi başlıkları ayrıntılı bir şekilde ele alınacak; problemli gördüğümüz hususlarla ilgili kişisel önerilerde bulunulacaktır. Civil lawsuits are commonly subject to a classification according to the legal protection required from the court. Lawsuits which establish a new legal situation by eliminating a legal relationship established between individuals, are called constitutive lawsuits, and court verdicts made upon the acceptance of these lawsuits are called constitutive judgments. The constitutive judgments create a new legal situation that did not exist until then, but emerged with the finalization of the judgment. Likewise, as a rule, constitutive judgments are inter omnes effective against everyone and do not require execution or any means to produce the desired effect. In the field of private law, constitutive lawsuits are concentrated mostly in family law and commercial law, but there are also examples of constitutive lawsuits in the field of procedural law and law of execution. Moreover, in the area of non - contentious jurisdiction and temporary legal protections, constitutive court decisions are also exist. After considering the basic concepts related to the constitutive judgments, the features, the types and the titles of the constitutive judgments will be discussed in detail in our dissertation. Later on personal suggestions will be made on issues we consider problematic.

Çokuluslu şirketlerin etki alanı küresel olmakla birlikte, gerçekleştirdikleri faaliyetlerdeki menfaatleri özeldir ve nihai hedefleri de kârlılıklarını arttırmaktır. 1970'lerden itibaren çokuluslu şirketlerin dünyanın ekonomik kalkınmasına hizmet edebileceğine yönelik toplumsal beklentinin gerçekçi olmadığı ciddi insani ve çevresel maliyetleriyle birlikte anlaşılmıştır. Gerçekten de, neoliberal politikalar, ekonomik küreselleşme ve uluslararası yatırım antlaşmaları rejimiyle daha da güç ve nüfuz kazanan çokuluslu şirketlerin sebep olduğu siyasi, ekonomik, hukuki, çevresel ve sosyal sorunlar günümüzde belirgin bir hale gelmiştir. Toplumsal ve küresel eşitsizliklerin ve adaletsizliklerin daha da derinleşmesi kamuoyunda büyük endişe yaratmaktadır. Yaşanmakta olan bu süreç, insan haklarını koruma ve mağduriyetleri telafi mekanizmalarının yetersizliklerini gözler önüne sermektedir. Çokuluslu şirketlerin faaliyetlerini nasıl gerçekleştirdiğine veya güçlerini ne yönde kullandıklarına ilişkin hesap verilebilirliğin sağlanabilmesi için ortaya çıkan toplumsal beklentinin karşılanabilmesi amacıyla, 2011 yılında Birleşmiş Milletler İnsan Hakları Konseyi tarafından oybirliğiyle kabul edilen Rehber İlkeler çerçevesinde, devletlerin insan haklarını koruma ödevlerinin yanı sıra şirketlerin de insan haklarına saygı gösterme sorumluluğunun olduğu ve bu sorumluluğun gereklerini yerine getirmek için insan hakları etki incelemesi (HRDD) yapmaları gerektiği açık bir şekilde ifade edilmiştir. Şirketlere atfedilen bu insan hakları sorumluluğunun uluslararası hukukta ve uluslararası insan hakları hukukunda temellendirilmesi önem taşımaktadır. Zira, çokuluslu şirketlerin tedarik zincirlerindeki uygulamaları, uluslararası hukukun emredici kurallarının (jus cogens) ihlallerini de içeren birçok insan hakları ihlallerine sebebiyet vermektedir. Ancak, iç hukuk sistemlerinde çokuluslu şirketlerin örgütlenme biçimleri ve tüzel kişilik perdesinden kaynaklanan kısıtlar nedeniyle hesap verilebilirlikleri sağlanamamaktadır. Gerçekten de, iş dünyası ve insan hakları alanının esas tartışması ve sermayenin insan hakları ihlalleri kaynaklı yaşanan adaletsizliklerin esas nedeni, çokuluslu şirketlerin insan hakları sorumluluğunun sağlanabilmesine karşı en başta ticaret hukuku ve sözleşmeler hukuku olmak üzere iç hukukta yer alan yasal engeller, liberalizmin kalıplaşmış bakış açılarının aşılamaması ve çokuluslu sermayenin (yabancı yatırımın) ekonomik kalkınmayı ve toplumsal gönenci beraberinde getireceğine yönelik gerçekdışı beklentidir. Şirketlerin sahip olduğu insan hakları sorumluluğu uluslararası örf ve âdet hukuk normu olarak belirdikten sonra Rehber İlkeler kapsamında beyan edilmiş, HRDD de bu sorumluluğunun gereklerini ifa edilebilmesi için önemli ve gerekli bir risk tespit aracı olarak öngörülmüştür. Devletlerin insan haklarını koruma ödevleri gereği, şirketlerden hesap sorulabilirliğin ve hak mağdurlarının adalete erişimlerinin sağlanabilmesi için iç hukuk engellerini kaldırması ve/veya hesap sorulabilirliği kolaylaştırıcı iç hukuk düzenlemeleri yapması gerekmektedir. Son dönemde özellikle Avrupa Birliğinde ve Avrupa Birliğine üye olan devletlerde yaşanan yasal gelişmeler de bu gerekliliğin bir sonucudur. Even though the domain of multinational companies is global, their interests are private and their ultimate goal is to increase their profitability. Since 1970s, it has been understood that the social expectation that multinational companies can serve for the economic development of the world is not realistic and this understanding was gained with serious human and environmental costs. Indeed, the political, economic, legal, environmental and social problems caused by the mutinational companies, who have assumed more power and influence through widespread neoliberal policies, economic globalization and international investment treaties regime, have become more evident today. The intensification of social and global inequalities as well as injustice among societies raised great concern in the public opinion. This ongoing process reveals the shortcomings and inadequacies of human rights protection and remediation mechanisms. In order to meet the social expectation for ensuring legal accountability of multinational companies regarding their global activities, in 2011 the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously adopted the 'Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights', which explicity sets forth corporate responsibility to respect human rights in addition to already existing state duty to protect human rights. Guiding Principles also states that business actors should make human rights due diligence (HRDD) to fulfill the requirements and conditions of their human rights responsibility. It is important to establish legal basis of corporate responsibility to respect human rights within the scope of international law and international human rights law. Otherwise, such responsibility would not be legally enforceable and thus, one can easily argue that this responsibility exists in vacuum juris. However, we have been witnessing various practices and operations of multinational companies within their supply chains, which would constitute human rights violations - in fact, some of these violations are breaches of jus cogens. Nonetheless, it is not possible to ensure the legal accountability of multinational companies in the current national legal systems due to legal barriers arising from how multinational companies' organizations are structured and corporate veil doctrine stipulated in national laws. The main discussion in the field of business and human rights and the main reason for injustices due to human rights violations by corporate actors; legal barriers arising from domestic law – particularly, commercial and contractual law – for establishing human rights responsibility of multinational companies, inability to go beyond streotypical approach of liberalism, and the unrealistic expectation that multinational companies (as well as foreign investment) will bring economic development and social welfare. As a matter of fact, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights has been declared within the scope of the Guiding Principles after this responsibility was emerged as an international customary law norm. HRDD is also envisaged as an important and necessary risk assessment tool for the fulfillment of this responsibility's requirements. As precribed by the duty of states to protect human rights, in order to ensure legal accountability of corporate actors and to enable victims' access to justice, removing domestic legal barriers and enacting necessary regulations that would facilitate accountability are required. Recent legal developments, especially in the European Union and the member states of the European Union, are also a result of this necessity.

The internet and digital technologies have irreversibly changed the way we find and consume news. Legacy news organisations, publishers of newspapers, have moved to the internet. In the online news environment, however, they are no longer the exclusive suppliers of news. New digital intermediaries have emerged, search engines and news aggregators in particular. They select and display links and fragments of press publishers’ content as a part of their services, without seeking the news organisations’ prior consent. To shield themselves from exploitation by digital intermediaries, press publishers have begun to seek legal protection, and called for the introduction of a new right under the umbrella of copyright and related rights. Following these calls, the press publishers’ right was introduced into the EU copyright framework by the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market in 2019.

There are many employment positions in the labour market that could be filled by the disabled of whom most, given the right environment, could be productive in the workplace. However, there are employers who still labour under the misconception that Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) are unqualified and unproductive although their participation in the workplace could contribute to the national economy, while restoring their dignity and social integration. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) entered into force on 3 May 2008. The CRPD is the first international legally binding treaty aimed specifically at protecting the rights of PWDs. It is expected of ratifying States Parties to either amend their domestic existing laws or to enact new legislation in order to meet their obligations, as set out in the CRPD. In 2008, South Africa ratified the CRPD and the Optional Protocol, thus committing itself to the provisions relating to, inter alia, workplace integration. Article 26 of the Convention mandates States Parties to take effective and appropriate measures to enable PWDs to attain and maintain maximum independence, physical, mental, social and vocational ability, and to ensure their social inclusion. Article 27 stipulates, inter alia, that States Parties shall safeguard and promote the realisation of the right to work, including those who incur a disability during the course of employment. Legislation should make provision for, inter alia the following: • enable PWDs to have effective access to general technical and vocational guidance programmes; • placement services and continued vocational training; • promote employment opportunities and career advancement; • assistance in sourcing, obtaining, maintaining and returning to work; and • reasonable accommodation in the workplace as well as vocational and professional rehabilitation. Although the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993 was amended recently to include rehabilitation, re-integration and return to work (RTW) as part of its objectives, it will be argued that South Africa needs to initiate targeted legislation and policies that make disability management functions mandatory. Employers’ obligations need to be set out clearly in the Act, because, as it stands, the following lacunae exist: • There is no obligation to appoint Case Managers; • Dismissal protection is not provided for; • The regulation of negative incentives to assist with RTW compliance is lacking; and • The roles of different stakeholders in the RTW process require clarification. Without South Africa having an appropriate and detailed RTW framework, ill or injured employees stand the risk of losing their jobs and becoming dependent on family members and/or disability grants. Against this background, a comparative analysis of international and regional law and the RTW practices of two foreign jurisdictions were made. This enabled the author to devise recommendations and identify the roles of the government, employers, employees and Case Managers. The primary objective of this thesis is to determine how and to what extent regional and international standards and RTW programmes in other countries could assist in developing and amending the current legislative and policy framework in South Africa to promote the RTW of disabled employees.

With the developments happening globally that are aimed at curbing base erosion and profit shifting by multinationals, improving the resolution of transfer pricing disputes has been identified as one of the key issues. This thesis investigates the challenges uniquely faced by African countries that militate against the use of the OECD transfer pricing dispute resolution mechanisms. The thesis starts by reflecting on the effect of transfer pricing manipulation by multinational enterprises in Africa in particular. Transfer pricing manipulation is one of the causes of the so-called tax gap, which is, the gap between anticipated and actual revenue collection. The aggression by revenue authorities against transfer pricing manipulation in order to close this gap has triggered a lot of transfer pricing adjustments. These adjustments have resulted in multiple transfer pricing disputes. In the analysis of the adopted OECD dispute resolution mechanisms, the thesis focuses on the effectiveness of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP), the advance pricing arrangement (APA) and the mandatory binding arbitration (MBA). It identifies the problems that result in the failure of or the delay in the resolution of many transfer pricing disputes by analysing the domestic frameworks that exist in four African countries namely: South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana. The thesis identifies problems such as the absence of a tax treaty network within the African continent, the use of underdeveloped double tax agreements and the lack of commitment from African countries to subscribe to and ratify multilateral conventions. These problems delay or stifle the resolution of tax treaty disputes. They also cause uncertainty for taxpayers and lead to continued tax avoidance by multinational enterprises that essentially avoid paying tax in African countries where the economic activities of these enterprises take place. The thesis also identifies the importance of other OECD supporting tools such as the exchange of tax information in the resolution of transfer pricing disputes. It focuses on tools such as country by country reports, the master file, the local file and simultaneous tax examination as covered by the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The thesis contributes to the resolution of the identified problems with transfer pricing dispute resolution in Africa by recommending certain improvements that can be effected. These recommendations entail, regarding the MAP, the expansion of tax treaty networks by African countries and the establishment of a Tax Treaty Dispute Resolution Committee by ATAF. Regarding the APA, it is recommended that African countries should sign the multilateral instrument (MLI) and make use of advance tax rulings (ATRs) as alternatives. With respect to the MBA, this thesis recommends that African countries should use optional arbitration by effectively using article 25(4) of the OECD Model tax convention (MTC). It also recommends that African countries must enhance their tax transparency by ratifying multilateral conventions that seek to address international tax co-operation and to improve compliance with transfer pricing documentation requirements in order to make the resolution of transfer pricing disputes more effective.

This thesis investigates the process of integration in the African Union (AU), and the reasons behind the slow progress of the AU to achieve the goal of deeper economic integration. In the research I explore the role of an AU member state in the process of African integration: Algeria. The research scrutinises the development of Algerian foreign policy towards the AU and highlights any changes in the Algerian FP attitudes and the reasons behind these changes. Similarly, the research unveils the reality of the decision-making process in this country, and the different agents that influence it. To achieve the main goals of the research, different theoretical choices were elaborated. This resulted in researching European integration theories; Neofunctionalism was, then, selected to study the Algerian development in the making of its foreign policy in general and towards the African Union specifically. Some concepts within the Neofunctionalist thinking were used including the principle of the shift of loyalties, the socialisation process, the spillover system, and the role of interest groups in the process of integration. Moreover, the theory of Regionalism was used to examine the process of integration in the AU discovering new reasons that led to the slow development of economic integration in Africa. Consequently, the research highlights the current obstacles and challenges that have hindered the process of economic integration in the AU, including the poverty of most of the AU member states, the limited financial budget of the Union and the instability of the majority of African countries. Furthermore, the research unveiled the lack of political will towards AU economic integration plans. Hence, this contribution extends beyond the traditional models of explanation, and discusses the situation in AU member states (in this case Algeria) and points to other factors as well such as the weakness of the lobbyist activities and business groups in Algeria specifically and Africa more generally. The thesis, then, focusses on Algeria’s supportive and active status in the AU security sector, highlighting how Algeria has been successful in pushing its own security and antiterrorism agenda to the AU level, thereby demonstrating that integration into the AU is possible, if it is backed by influential member states, and wider coalitions can be built to promote integration and cooperation.

The lack of long-term and stable financial support for SMEs is the fundamental reason why enterprises cannot develop for a long time. At present, the situation of financing difficulties for SMEs is becoming more and more serious. Private equity (PE) investment has emerged as an important financing method. Private equity investment, while broadening the financing channels of SME capital markets, brings advanced management experience to enterprises, which helps enterprises to develop rapidly and effectively. According to the statistics of the Zero2IPO Research Center, the active investment institutions in China's equity market have grown from more than 200 in 2000 to more than 14,000 in 2018, with a total asset under management over RMB 9 trillion. Great progress has been realized in the scale and development of the industry. In addition, with the launch of the GEM in 2009, PE investment industry met new opportunities of development and became popular. At present, the development of China's PE investment business is still at an early stage. Neither relevant policies, laws and regulations nor supporting mechanisms are mature enough. Therefore, researches on China's PE investment business needs to be carried out. In this context, more and more scholars are beginning to focus on the field of PE investment. This paper focuses on whether PE investments can fundamentally increase the enterprise value. The basic theory is sorted out to serve as the theoretical basis for this study. Through a systematic analysis, this paper draws out 4paths of PE investment affecting enterprises, which are the influence on technological innovation, corporate governance activities, dividend distribution decision and earnings management, respectively. And through empirical analysis, it finds the empirical basis of the impact of PE investment on enterprise value, and investigates how PE investments affect enterprise value based on the difference in investment characteristics such as investment duration and whether the investment is joint or not. This paper conducts an empirical test by selecting the listed companies of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange GEM in 2015-2018 as sample. The results show that the investment of PE firm will significantly increase the value of the target enterprise. This paper makes a detailed analysis of sample data. The conclusion of the study is that private equity investment will have a significant impact on the value of target enterprises. Private equity investment plays an important role in the modern governance structure of small and medium-sized enterprises in China This paper enriches the existing literature and provides constructive suggestions for the health development of the PE investment market. 中小企业缺乏长期稳定的资金来源是企业无法长久发展的根本性原因，目前 中小企业融资难的形势越来越严峻，私募股权投资作为一种重要的融资手段应运 而生。私募股权投资在拓宽中小企业资本市场融资渠道的同时，给企业带来先进的 管理经验，有助于企业快速并有效的发展。据清科研究中心的统计数据显示，中国 股权市场活跃的投资机构已由 2000 年的 200 多家发展到 2018 年的 1.4 万多家，管 理资本量超过 9 万亿人民币，行业规模和发展实现了质的飞跃。此外，随着 2009 年创业板的推出，私募股权投资行业的发展业迎来了新的希望和契机，私募股权投 资业务开始盛行。目前，我国私募股权投资业务的发展还处于早期阶段，无论是从 政策还是法律法规再到配套机制，都还不够健全。因此，对我国私募股权投资业务 的研究亟需开展，在此背景下，越来越多的学者开始关注私募股权投资这一领域。 本文研究的重点是私募股权投资是否能够根本上提升企业价值。本文首先对 基础理论进行了梳理，以此作为研究的理论依据，而后论述了私募股权投资对被投 资企业价值影响的理论分析，。本文通过系统的理论分析得出了私募股权投资影响 企业的路径，并通过实证分析，得到私募股权投资对企业价值的影响的实证依据， 并且从投资期限和是否联合投资等投资特征的差异性，深入研究私募股权投资对 企业价值的影响方式。本文通过选取深圳证券交易所创业板 2015-2018 年的上市企 业作为样本，进行了实证检验，并得出以下研究结论:私募股权投资的参与会显著 提升目标企业的价值，同时，私募股权投资的期限越长、联合投资机构的数量越多， 目标企业的价值也会越高。 本文基于理论又结合实际，对样本数据进行了分析，研究的结论是私募股权投 资会对被投资企业的价值产生显著影响。私募股权投资对于我国中小企业的现代 化治理结构起到了完善作用。本文的研究结果丰富了现有文献，对私募股权投资市 场健康发展提出了建设性的建议。