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Laws, Volume 12, Issue 6 (December 2023) – 6 articles

Cover Story (view full-size image): In order to fight corruption, money laundering, and organized crime, a proposed APUNCAC Beneficial Owner Rule would require financial service personnel to obtain and submit a certification by the valid beneficial owner when covered funds are transacted in amounts exceeding USD 3000. The strategy would create a transaction-level record of assertions by frontmen that a prosecutor can test, eliminate loopholes that allow criminals to escape prosecution in offshore havens, not require proof of a predicate crime or the illicit nature of funds, trigger a chain of witness cooperation, fight organized crime using a domino strategy, and be accomplished via a relatively simple change in domestic laws. The analysis suggests that implementation of the Rule is operationally, legally feasible, and practical. View this paper

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23 pages, 2228 KiB

Open AccessArticle

To Enhance the Credibility of the Green Bond Market through Regulating GBERs: The Case of China

by Xiayang Chen and Weiqiu Long

Laws 2023, 12(6), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws12060091 - 14 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1471

Abstract

As the green bond market expands, an increasing number of Green Bond External Reviewers (hereafter ‘GBER’ or ‘GBERs’) have gained momentum among investors and financial regulators. A GBER enhances the credibility of green bonds and prevents greenwashing risk in the green bond market by reducing the information asymmetry between issuers and investors. China is the second largest issuer of green bonds in the world. The current Chinese GBER legal framework is insufficient to ensure green bond market sustainability. Our purpose in this paper is to analyze the inadequacies of the Chinese GBER regulatory framework and to provide suggestions for overcoming the potential challenges within it. A textual analysis of primary legal sources and secondary academic sources serves as the main research methodology in this study. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of China’s GBER regulatory framework and addresses its shortcomings and weaknesses. Furthermore, given the evolving stage of the Chinese green bond market, this paper analyzes potential challenges for GBERs and proposes some suggestions to ensure high-quality reviews by GBERs. Full article

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13 pages, 885 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Brazil’s Return to the Hunger Map: An Analysis of Public Policies and Effective Measures for Food Security

by Ana Tereza Souza Domingos, Carolina Oliveira Mesquita, Emiliano Lobo de Godoi and Thiago Augusto Mendes

Laws 2023, 12(6), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws12060090 - 14 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1418

Abstract

The planning and application of public policies in the panorama of the right to adequate food stands out for the development of the food supply of the Brazilian population. However, it is questionable whether these public policies have been effective in contributing to adequate nutrition. The aim of this article is to study the effectiveness of public food security policies in Brazil between 2012 and 2022. Also, urban agriculture is analyzed as an alternative food policy that can be carried out by the population, and contributes to the use of urban space. To understand the country’s food security situation and the effectiveness of public policies in avoiding a scenario of hunger and insecurity, the hypothetical-deductive method and the technique of bibliographical and documentary research are used, together with the theoretical framework in the theory of the cycle of public policies. It is concluded that the public policies developed were gradually weakened, and that between 2019 and 2022, the Brazilian government took measures discouraging the implementation of food policies. Brazil, with disjointed policies, facing the pandemic and an economic crisis, is in a situation of food insecurity and has portions of the population in a situation of hunger. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Law)

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14 pages, 279 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

A Continuum of Protection to Empowerment: The Evolving Legal Landscape of Decision-Making for Children and Adolescents

by Dominique Moritz and Ben Mathews

Laws 2023, 12(6), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws12060089 - 06 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1394

Abstract

In 2020, the United Kingdom’s Divisional Court made international headlines for their decision in Bell v Tavistock (2020) [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Law and Children’s Decision-Making)

22 pages, 392 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Covenant School Shooting: Media Coverage and Backlash against the Transgender Community

by Daisy Ball and James Suleyman

Laws 2023, 12(6), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws12060088 - 28 Nov 2023

Viewed by 1697

Abstract

On 27 March 2023, Aiden Hale broke into the Covenant School, a private Christian academy in Nashville, TN, and killed three students and three staff members. Hale, a former student at the school, was transgender. Although assigned female at birth, Hale identified as male, asked to be called by a male name, and used he/him pronouns. In the aftermath of the shooting, a newfound wave of anti-trans rhetoric soared, once again putting members of the transgender community in harm’s way. In this article, we review the details of the Covenant School shooting and consider them in the context of the anti-trans movement in the United States, a movement that has escalated as transgender people have become more visible and more vocal in society. We then present findings from an extensive content analysis of newspaper coverage in the two weeks following the shooting (27 March–10 April). In so doing, we add to the literature on K-12 school shootings and gender studies, specifically stigma towards the transgender community. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Issues in K-12 School Violence in the United States)

14 pages, 271 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Analysis of Post-Apartheid Anti-Fronting Interventions Fostering Mainstreaming of the Black South Africans into Corporate Sector

by Treasure Hlayisani Mathebula and Kolawole Olusola Odeku

Laws 2023, 12(6), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws12060087 - 13 Nov 2023

Viewed by 1589

Abstract

While the colonial and apartheid regimes utilised draconian, arbitrary, segregated, discriminatory, and exclusive anti-black social-socioeconomic policies and laws to deny the majority of black South Africans access to and participation in various economic activities, post 1994 democratic South Africa has strategically introduced progressive policies and laws to ensure that black South Africans play active productive roles in socio-economic activities in all sectors. While this is commendable, various corporations and businesses owned by white companies are supposed to ensure that black people become part and parcel of the businesses, and companies are being denied active participation, using fronting purposefully to circumvent the requirements of the anti-fronting laws. Against this backdrop, this paper seeks to analyse the post-apartheid anti-fronting interventions that foster the mainstreaming of black South Africans into the corporate sector. The paper uses a literature review methodology to find and analyse primary and secondary sources of data relating to equality, BEE, and fronting. This paper presents the historical exclusion of blacks through the instrumentality of colonial and apartheid apparatuses and laws brutally utilised to exclude blacks from economic activities. Post 1994 democratic transformative interventions—laws—have been enacted to redress the segregated and exclusive laws; however, fronting activities and practices continue to undermine and circumvent successful implementation. This said, the post 1994 government continues to tackle impunity through the exploration of civil and criminal responsibilities and accountability of perpetrators and use the rule of law-judicial means to hold perpetrators accountable. This paper found that fronting is a persisting issue in South Africa despite anti-fronting legislative measures developed over the past years when the B-BBEE Act was amended. This paper advises more on pro-active anti-fronting measures to pro-actively foster the mainstreaming of black South Africans into the corporate sector. Full article

133 pages, 3381 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Anticorruption Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Corruption Beneficial Owner Rule

by Stuart S. Yeh

Laws 2023, 12(6), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws12060086 - 24 Oct 2023

Viewed by 2304

Abstract

To fight corruption, money laundering, and organized crime, a proposed APUNCAC Beneficial Owner Rule would require financial service personnel to obtain and submit certification by the true beneficial owner when covered funds are transacted in amounts exceeding USD 3000. The strategy would trap front men into false statements, create a transaction-level record of assertions by front men that can be tested by a prosecutor, eliminate loopholes that allow criminals to escape prosecution in offshore havens, not require proof of a predicate crime or the illicit nature of funds, trigger a chain of witness cooperation, fight organized crime using a domino strategy, and be accomplished via a relatively simple change in domestic laws. Analysis suggests (1) the required technology exists; (2) transaction friction would be minimal; and (3) that the implementation of the Rule is feasible and practical, both operationally and from a legal standpoint, suggesting that the proposed Rule offers a promising strategy to fight organized crime. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Anticorruption Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (APUNCAC))

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