In July 2014, against the backdrop of an escalating conflict in Ukraine and the crash of a civilian passenger airliner in the active combat zone there, the OECD's sanctions against Russia were severely toughened. A ban was imposed on the issuance of long-term loans (for periods over 90 days) to...

Brett v. Gilbert (1605), commonly known as the Case of Mixt Monies, confirms the principle of monetary nominalism in the common law of obligations. It is fundamental to the modern understanding of the legal nature of obligations to pay money and goes far to define a distinctive conception of...

The law influences the behavior of its citizens in various ways. Well understood are the direct effects of legal rules. By imposing sanctions or granting subsidies, the law either expands or contracts the horizon of opportunities within which individuals can satisfy their preferences. In this...

Juries are a fundamental element of the criminal justice system. In this paper, we model jury decision-making as a function of three institutional variables: jury size, voting requirement, and the applicable standard of proof. Changes in jury size, voting requirements, and standards of proof...

This paper offers an account of the important role which an obligation to provide reasons can play in avoiding some of the systematic difficulties encountered in the theory of rational social choice. The paper builds on some of the insights offered by theories of structure-induced equilibrium....

Recent changes in the former communist countries have demonstrated the importance of a legal system for economic progress. A legal system defines property rights, allows for exchange of property rights, and protects property rights. Countries with a rule of law and well established property...

In this sample of 49 Latin American, OECD, and transition economies, it is the ineffective and discretionary administration of tax and regulatory regimes--not higher tax rates alone--as well as corruption, that increases the size of the unofficial economy. And countries with a larger unofficial...

This chapter considers the landmark status of the House of Lords in Thorner v Major [2009] UKHL 18, understanding it as an example of story-telling in the law. The chapter explores the issues surrounding the equitable doctrine of proprietary estoppel, as it applies in particular in the context...

It is increasingly common for commentators to argue that common law judicial review and human rights law are merging to form a unified field of public law, characterised by common functions, norms, concepts and methods, and/or that the two fields ought to be so unified. Such commentators...