The worldwide rise of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) over the last half-century is emblematic of the paradox in modern tax systems: their remarkable similarity in the face of divergent political, cultural and social systems. However efforts to introduce VAT-style taxes have frequently been...

Vodafone acquired Hutchison (India) in 2007. Post-acquisition Vodafone has faced a turbulent time dealing with the tax authorities. The liability on Vodafone to withhold Capital Gains Tax was upheld by the Bombay High Court but subsequently rejected by the Indian Apex Court. However, the matter...

The OECD International VAT/GST guidelines (OECD Guidelines) are the most significant global attempt to coordinate place of taxation rules for cross‑border supplies of services and intangibles so that the final consumption of such supplies are effectively taxed on a destination basis. However,...

The paper explores the origins of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and its rapid global rise from relative obscurity in the mid-twentieth century to its near worldwide adoption today. The paper highlights general trends in VAT design and provides a critical overview of the explanations provided for the...

This article was the Kirby lecture presented in March 2009 at the Southern Cross University in Sydney, Australia. Adrien Wing's keynote speech was in support of Australian retired Justice Michael Kirby's legacy that national courts can and should gain strength from international law. The author...

Among international organizations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is widely credited with having the most effective dispute settlement system. Its highly developed dispute settlement system, which is one of the few in international law to include a standing appellate body, invites...

Generally speaking, each individual jurisdiction has adopted its own approach concerning the rules on the determination of the governing law applicable in proceedings in international matters. In the international practice, arbitral panels usually distinguish four relatively autonomous areas...

Multiculturalism has many aspects and broad ramifications. To begin with multiculturalism is an empirical and sociological fact. Multiple cultures exist and these are superimposed upon multiple national states in ever changing ways. These different cultures develop, interact and at times...

The past few decades have witnessed the growth of an exciting debate in the legal academy about the tensions between economic pressures to commodify and philosophical commitments to the market inalienability of certain items. Sex, organs, babies and college athletics are among the many topics...

In explaining the concept of centre of main interests (COMI) within the UK Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 (CBIR), the Englush court in Re Stanford International Bank over-emphasised third-party ascertainability due to an apparent lack of appreciation of the different functions...