Abstract This article investigates the law of public consultation in Hong Kong administrative law. The Hong Kong cases in this area have consistently followed, without question, the corresponding English authorities, and seem to have simply assumed the appropriacy of this approach. But given that it seems open to academic argument whether the Hong Kong legal system shares the same liberal democratic political theory which the English legal system endorses – and given that the English law of public consultation is commonly regarded as, inter alia , pursuing a liberal democracy-based rationale – two questions arise: (i) what is, or what are, the underlying rationale(s) for the Hong Kong law of public consultation; and (ii) to what extent is it appropriate for the Hong Kong courts to adopt the English case law on public consultation? This article contends that even assuming the Hong Kong legal system is not underpinned by a liberal democratic political theory, (i) the Hong Kong law of public consultation is underpinned by the informational rationale and a specific strand of the respect rationale; and (ii) English case law on public consultation can be implemented into Hong Kong law, insofar as its reasoning can be completed without affirming a liberal democratic premise.

Abstract Countries across Asia have attempted to expand the involvement of fathers in childcare, motivated by declining birth rates, growing elderly populations, notable gender inequality gaps, and the demand of fathers for paid leave. This article assesses the efforts of twenty-one Asian nations to achieve a more equal distribution of the responsibility for child-rearing by comparing legal entitlements to paid maternity leave, paternity leave, and parental leave. Twenty-one jurisdictions are classified according to three models. Model A is a ‘gender equality’ model where non-transferable paid leave is provided in more equal share to parents, with an additional post-birth period exclusively for birth mothers. Model B is a ‘quota for fathers’ approach where a number of days or weeks are provided in amounts that fall far short of the amount of paid leave exclusively offered to mothers. Model C captures countries that offer no legal entitlements for paid leave for fathers. The data reveals the extent to which Asia lags behind global good practice in the provision of leave to different-sex and same-sex parents, with regional laws reflecting the view that caregiving primarily or exclusively falls upon women. Generous, paid and non-transferable leave for fathers is needed to increase leave-taking.

Abstract This article critically analyses the substantial inadequacies of the current Customer Due Diligence (CDD) framework in safeguarding marginalised communities from financial exclusion in Malaysia. It highlights that for vulnerable groups such as rural inhabitants, undocumented migrants, and refugees, the CDD, as currently framed and applied, only impedes access to formal financial services. While Malaysia's implementation of a risk-based approach in CDD policies complies with global standards of CDD, this article argues that these standards fall far short of effectively helping marginalised communities. In addition, there is evidence that banks are exhibiting over-cautious compliance behaviour, which resulted in banks hesitating to implement some of the CDD flexibilities introduced by the regulators. In order to address these problems and overcome the barriers, proposals for the development of new CDD strategies are analysed. These include reducing documentation requirements, widening the list of acceptable documents, and introducing entry-level accounts. The aim is to address banking access issues for marginalised communities without compromising the regulatory objectives of CDD. The article recommends that CDD regulations can better assist financial inclusion if they are tailored to the specific needs of the excluded communities by using a risk-based approach.

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Abstract Pursuant to Article 63 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), a state may require other treaty parties to disclose their intellectual property case law ‘of general application’. While most domestic judgments in common law are indeed of general application, civil law systems theoretically employ judgments as reference only. Nevertheless, to value consistency and predictability, the hybridisation of civil law jurisdictions is increasingly leading them to devise special lists of judgments that acquire formal or factual binding status on lower-ranked courts. This trend is particularly evident in China, whose Supreme People's Court's ‘Guiding Cases’ join other specific categories of holdings within ‘Judicial Interpretations’ and further guideline documents that are factually binding domestically. When the United States and the European Union requested, through the World Trade Organization, that China disclose the full range of its case law of general application, China responded that civil law jurisdictions do not issue judgments that are binding beyond the parties. This article examines the limitations and merits of the Chinese stance.

Abstract The rise and proliferation of International Commercial Courts has become a perceptible trend across the European and Asian continents over the past two decades. One such dispute resolution hub exists within the Astana International Financial Centre, a special jurisdiction within the Republic of Kazakhstan that operates on the basis of common law principles. The Astana International Financial Centre and its Court were modelled on the international financial centres of Dubai and Qatar; however, there are substantial differences between the legal systems of the Gulf States and that of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As a result, the creation of a new court has led to considerable criticism within the local legal community, raising serious doubts as to whether the Kazakh state should be maintaining and financing a ‘caviar-court’ instead of using resources to reform and develop the national judicial system. Nevertheless, despite the scepticism surrounding the financial centre, there is potential for the Astana International Financial Centre and its Court to become a regional dispute resolution hub for post-Soviet countries and the Central Asian region, following the example of Singapore and Dubai.

Abstract Geographical Indications (GIs) have been a ‘must-have’ element for EU FTAs in the last decade. Contemporaneously, the USA has contested these EU GI provisions in its own FTAs often with the same countries. The impacts of the EU-US contestation on GIs on a third country are not sufficiently understood. China has been a long-standing example of the EU-US GI contestation. This article examines how the competing demands of EU-US GI contestation have contributed to the ‘Chinese GI Schizophrenia’, which features triplicate GI protection mechanisms coexisting simultaneously and independently. It discusses how the symptom has developed when China was navigating GI regulations bilaterally and multilaterally in the last four decades, how China has made efforts to manage this schizophrenia through institutional integration, and how recent agreements with the EU and the USA respectively further worsened the situation. Using the case of Chinese GI Schizophrenia, this article warns of similar consequences for any country signing bilateral GI agreements with both the EU and the USA: a compliance dilemma that can ultimately cast doubts on the legitimacy of GI rules and create rule complexity that can bring enormous uncertainty to agri-food producers and exporters.

Abstract The unprecedented global pandemic has shaken the world's foundations – upending legal institutions, toppling established principles of transnational governance, and limiting mobility between nations. In the People's Republic of China (the PRC or China), one of the most significant legal developments is the major reconfiguration of the state's labour and capital policies oriented towards its economic partners with emerging economies and economies in transition. These policies have changed dramatically, especially given the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on lower-income states. China's domestic situation and its need to meet evolving transnational demands also contribute to the reformation of these economic ties, and perhaps precede further changes to be implemented in the future. To provide much-needed insight into this ongoing transformation, this Article investigates how China's labour and capital policies towards its key international partners have developed in response to the pandemic. Drawing on three case studies, we use a socio-legal approach to analyse the status of migrants from African countries in China, labour immigration to China from its southwestern border regions, and the emigration of Chinese nationals to Serbia and the Balkans for the purposes of labour and investment. Through these representative developments, this Article unveils new trends in China's post-pandemic labour and capital policies, including enhanced responsiveness; a security-centric approach to border management; and an improving regulatory approach to ordinary migration channels.

Abstract Despite being ranked top three countries in the world in the Corruption Perception Index 2018, Singapore has a reputation in sports integrity for being the ‘academy of match-fixers’ in football and home to the leader of ‘the world's most notorious match-fixing syndicate’. It is curious (and somewhat ironic) that Singapore, as one of the world's leaders in managing public section corruption, has been home to sports corruption and match-fixing locally and internationally.To date, Singapore has not instituted sport-specific laws on match-fixing to specifically combat match-fixing and other forms of manipulation of sports competitions in the country, and primarily relies on its criminal laws on corruption to prosecute match-fixing conduct, pursuant to the Prevention of Corruption Act (Cap 241, 1993 Rev Ed Singapore). This is in comparison to other countries which are home to match-fixing conduct, such as Australia, Germany, and Switzerland.This article will focus on the discussion on whether it is necessary for countries, with particular focus on Singapore, to enact sport-specific laws on match-fixing in their endeavour to combat match-fixing in their country. This work will conclude that while there are benefits to enacting sport-specific match-fixing laws, there may not be a dire or urgent need for Singapore to enact sport-specific laws on match-fixing. In any event, it may be necessary for Singapore authorities and sport governing bodies to take certain concrete steps to buttress the present regulation of match-fixing and state of players’ contracts in order to mitigate the risks of such sports manipulation activities. One of these steps may include for Singapore to become a Signatory to the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competition (Macolin Convention).

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