Browsing by master's degree program "Master's Programme in Global Governance Law"
Now showing items 1-14 of 14
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(2022)This study aims to make a preliminary assessment of the role that the new ILC Draft PERAC principles could play in the OPT. It argues that the application of standards and norms protecting or compensating for the environmental damage in times of armed conflict has been highly influenced by the political context. At the same time, it finds that two of the main causes of the environmental challenges in the OPT are Israel’s activities and the lack of environmental regulations for companies operating in the occupied territory. In addition, the Palestinians face serious difficulties in accessing justice. There is a domestic lacuna since Palestinian courts have limited competences and the Israeli Courts have showed bias towards Palestinians. Internationally, it is highly unlikely that Israel will accept the ICJ’s voluntary jurisdiction, and it is doubtful that the case before the ICC is adequate to tackle the systemic oppression in the OPT. On the other hand, since Palestine is becoming a party to different agreements and treaties, it can now use the dispute settlement mechanisms established in MEAs which Israel has also ratified, such as the Basel Convention. This has enabled Palestine to bring complaints against the illegal transfer of hazardous waste by Israel to the OPT. This showed that what is required is a change in the Israel’s practices and policies or more available dispute settlement mechanisms. Finally, it finds that the ILC Draft PERAC principles are unlikely to force a change in Israeli practices. At the same time, for the time being, they do not establish any forum or dispute settlement mechanism. Thus, their role and impact on the OPT is limited. Nevertheless, because of their innovations and clarity, they offer a new framework of understanding that can be highly beneficial in diplomatic relations, educational purposes, and in the formation of expectations and demands. Moreover, it will support and offer an additional legal language in the different strands of activism ad advocacy led by Palestinian NGOs.
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(2022)Labour markets have changed due to globalisation, and this is challenging the traditional way of defining the notion of worker. Currently the international labour legislative system is based on a state centred way of defining the concept of worker. Each country hence defines the scope of the term on the basis of their national social and economic conditions. These national definitions have remained as the starting point even though the labour markets have internationalised. Workers may move from a country to another, businesses reach beyond national borders and across border competition has increased. Furthermore, regional, and international instruments containing their own ways to define the notion of worker, have added layers of regulation. Globalisation has hence changed the playing ground firstly with regards to the ways of work as well as with adding new layers of regulation. As the definition of worker grants rights and obligations to persons working, it is necessary to know who is categorised as a worker. The challenges caused by globalisation in defining the notion of worker based on national needs is amplified with the rise of atypical employment. Next to the traditional employment relationship based on an employment contract new forms of employment are becoming more prominent. These new forms of working do not fit into the traditional binary distinction between the workers and the self-employed. A current example of a form of atypical employment is platform work, which is work done on, or intermediated by digital platforms. Not only national regulation, but also regional and international instruments are being challenged with the changes in the global labour markets. This thesis seeks to outline the changes globalisation has brought to the labour markets. The current way of defining the concept of worker in all national, regional, and international contexts are explained. Based on this, the concepts are compared to see how similar or different the approaches to the concept are. Challenges caused by new forms of labour to the concept are furthermore presented. On the basis of this analysis, the durability of the current system of state centred way of defining the concept of worker is contrasted to the possible future changes in the labour markets and the possibility of harmonising the notion is contemplated as a solution for the changes caused by globalisation.
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(2022)In recent years, there have been increasing calls for greater European Union Weltpolitikfähigkeit - the ability to act cohesively in foreign policy. While the EU has made great strides towards cooperation in foreign policy, integration in this field remains relatively limited. To examine the potential for further integration, this thesis examines the current legal and institutional framework of the EU’s foreign policy governance, along with assessing its current capabilities for implementing it. The aim is to determine whether the current framework supports or impedes the development of Weltpolitikfähigkeit. Through examining the EU’s founding treaties, decision-making processes and institutions, this thesis finds that the EU has a robust, functional legal system to support decision-making and foreign policy contribution between Member States. The Union’s institutions are capable of supporting the EU’s Weltpolitikfähigkeit, but are subject to a number of issues which impede this development. The main conclusion is that while the legal and institutional infrastructure is in place, Member States need to do more in response to the challenges created by the emerging multipolar world. In particular, the Union needs to move from unanimity to Qualified Majority Voting in CFSP matters, improve the legitimacy of a Union level foreign policy by increasing democratic oversight by citizens, and double down security and defense cooperation. Through adopting these measures, the EU can be on the path towards building greater Weltpolitikfähigkeit.
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(2023)Mounting environmental challenges including climate change call for accelerated global action, but the response provided within international frameworks has thus far remained inadequate. In this context, can the perspectives of human rights law and climate change be usefully combined? This thesis studies the prospects of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as the most widely ratified global human rights treaty. It explores whether it can be argued that obligations in relation to environmental and climate action follow from the Convention and examines how current discourses on children’s rights and climate change are intersecting. These questions are approached by assessing the wording and aim of the UNCRC text and its interpretation by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) through the case Sacchi et al v Argentina et al and a draft of the upcoming General comment on children's rights, the environment and climate change. The analysis is complemented by an overview of practitioner discourses on the topic, including policy and advocacy documents, climate litigation and multilateral resolutions. In this study, law as a concept is understood as a living institution, consisting not only of the specific legislation but also its application in legal and social contexts. The results show that although the UNCRC includes strikingly few references to the environment, several of the rights enshrined in the Convention are directly affected by environmental threats, notably the impacts of climate change. Considering this, the CRC has indicated that state parties have environmental and climate-related obligations in order to comply with the UNCRC. A holistic reading of human rights instruments and obligations under international environmental law comes across as a key point. Furthermore, it seems that the UNCRC is being deployed in expert narratives to urge climate action to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children, despite the Convention’s substantive limitations in this regard and its interpretation by the CRC being ‘work in progress’. It is concluded that the UNCRC has potential to foster actions to protect children and humanity from harm related to climate change. A holistic interpretation of the Convention is required to safeguard child rights in the context of the escalating planetary crisis. Acknowledging these interlinkages can serve both the child rights and the environmental and climate policy fields.
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(2023)In 2021, the European Commission proposed a regulation implementing a carbon border adjustment mechanism. The primary objective of the mechanism is to curb the risk of carbon leakage. In addition, the mechanism should encourage the Union’s trade partners to implement carbon pricing measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. The use of border adjustments to pursue climate goals are disputed in terms environmental effectiveness. In the broader policy scope, unilateral climate measures are considered controversial due to their potential discriminatory policy effects on international trade. The carbon border adjustment mechanism highlights the complex and challenging relationship between the two most prominent multilateral questions, international trade and environmental concerns. Since the announcement of the mechanism, the Union’s trade partners have expressed opposition to the introduction of carbon taxes on the Union’s borders. In particular, the incompatibility of the mechanism with the rules of the World Trade Organization has been heavily emphasized. Potentially, the Union’s partners may move to lodge cases against the Union, in the dispute settlement body of the World Trade Organization. Although, the use of environmental measures with trade effects have been discussed by the dispute settlement bodies, the interpretation of the compatibility of climate measures with the rules of the GATT remain inconclusive. The mechanism may offer an opportunity for the organisation to actively strengthen the environmental agenda within trade. In the absence of political will of the membership to pursue reform, the Union may be required to resort to alternative policy tools to further its climate policy goals. Vuonna 2021, Euroopan Komissio esitti ehdotuksen, jolla otetaan käyttöön hiilirajamekanismi. Mekanismin päätavoitteena on välttää hiilivuotoa sekä kannustaa Unionin kauppakumppaneita ottamaan käyttöön päästökauppajärjestelmiä kasvihuonekaasupäästöjen vähentämiseksi ja ilmastonmuutoksen torjumiseksi. Rajatullien käyttö ilmastotavoitteiden saavuttamiseksi on kiistanalainen ympäristötehokkuuden kannalta. Ilmastopolitiikassa laajemmin, yksipuolisia ilmastotoimia pidetään kiistanalaisina, sillä niillä voi olla syrjiviä vaikutuksia kansainväliseen kauppaan. Hiilirajamekanismi korostaa kansainvälisen kaupan ja ympäristötoimien hankalaa suhdetta. Mekanismin julkistamisen yhteydessä, unionin kauppakumppanit ovat ilmaisseet vastustavansa hiiliverojen käyttöönottoa unionin rajoilla. Erityisesti mekanismin yhteensopimattomuutta Maailman kauppajärjestön sääntöjen kanssa on korostettu voimakkaasti. Unionin kumppanit voivat mahdollisesti nostaa kanteita unionia vastaan Maailman kauppajärjestön riitojenratkaisuelimessä. Vaikka ympäristötoimenpiteiden käyttöä, joilla on kaupallisia vaikutuksia, on käsitelty riitojenratkaisuelimissä, tulkinta ilmastotoimenpiteiden yhteensopivuudesta GATT -sääntöjen kanssa on edelleen epäselvä. Mekanismi voi tarjota organisaatiolle mahdollisuuden vahvistaa ympäristöohjelmaa maailmankaupassa. Jos jäsenillä ei ole poliittista tahtoa jatkaa uudistuksia, unioni voi joutua turvautumaan vaihtoehtoisiin välineisiin ilmastopoliittisten tavoitteidensa edistämiseksi.
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(2021)The emergence of a new wave of private companies and entrepreneurs who are entering the space industry, colloquially known as New Space, is challenging the traditional model of space exploration and exploitation and has brought with it a multitude of new opportunities and challenges, particularly in the realm of space mining. With the increasing interest in the extraction of valuable resources from celestial bodies such as the Moon, questions surrounding the legal status of the celestial bodies have become more pressing than ever before. This master’s thesis seeks to explore the legal status of the Moon in light of the emerging activities of New Space, specifically with regards to space mining. The thesis begins by providing a historical overview of the legal framework that currently governs outer space, focusing on the the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and the Moon Agreement of 1979, as well as the discussions before and after the conclusion of these international agreements. It also examines the various proposals and debates surrounding the legal status of the Moon, including the concept of “common heritage of mankind.” Next, the thesis delves into current state practice embedded in recent national laws and policies that permit space mining, exploring the various legal frameworks that have been proposed or put into practice by governments. This includes a detailed analysis of the legal challenges facing space mining, such as the lack of clear property rights and the potential for conflict between different actors. Finally, the thesis explores some (existing yet marginalised) alternative ways to think vis-à-vis outer space and the celestial bodies at the age of New Space, by highlighting the need for continued collaboration and dialogue between international actors, as well as the importance of clear and comprehensive legal frameworks that define the legal status of the Moon for a peaceful and sustainable future for extraterrestrial activities.
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(2022)Transparency of the Commission is as important as ever considering the ever-expanding nature of EU’s influence. In current digital era, EU’s access to documents regime is increasingly also conducted through technological solutions assisting and replacing previously predominant tangible and human solutions. An example of the technological solutions equipped for transparency in the context of the Commission are document registers, which are founded in law and created in the name of transparency. However, the practical and legal effects of document registers materialising transparency is largely unstudied aspect of the Union’s transparency. Therefore, this thesis is devoted to examining how we can observe the materialisation of transparency in practice, focusing on the European Commission’s Register of Documents. Aim is to show the (often) hidden ways in which the technological solutions influence transparency in their own right. To be able to study transparency in practice, it is necessary to understand the concept not only as talk but also an action. The related legal instruments are studied in order to get a full picture of the realm in which transparency conducted through document registers function. The technology is studied to bring fore ways in which the technological solutions are able to govern transparency on their own right. Institutional and expert interviews were conducted and incorporated in the analysis to support the findings from the usability of the registers. The thesis shows how technological construction of the Register of Documents is able to largely limit access to documents precisely due to the way in which it has been constructed. Together with the technological solutions, soft law instruments as well as institutional specific guidelines prove to have enormous influence in practicing transparency through the registers. Main finding suggests that access to documents is not an equal right in practice but high level of expert knowledge is required to gain information. This raises question on the nature of transparency as an ideal principle in a democratic society which would allow to hold the governing entities responsible on their decision and actions. What is needed is renewed attention to the ways in which designing technology creates, in itself, silent rules and shapes the reality of transparency in practice. Tämän tutkielman keskiössä on se, miten Komission läpinäkyvyys materialisoituu digitaalisessa ympäristössä asiakirjarekisterien kautta ja mitä vaikutuksia tällä on asiakirjoihin perustuvalle läpinäkyvyydelle. Euroopan Unionin demokratiavaje on ollut puheenaiheena jo pitkään. Hallinnon läpinäkyvyys on ajateltu olevan yksi keino parantaa demokraattista päätöksen tekoa ja tuoda se lähemmäksi kansalaisia. Läpinäkyvyyttä, kuten monia muitakin hallinnon osa-alueita on digitalisaation myötä lähdetty toteuttamaan myös teknologian avulla. Esimerkkinä tästä on Euroopan Komission Asiakirjarekisteri (RegDoc), joka on tämän tutkielman keskiössä. Teknologian oikeusvaikutukset on oikeustieteen tutkimuksessa aiemmin jo tunnistettu. Komission toimien ja päätösten läpinäkyvyyttä lainopillisesti sääntelee perussopimuksien ja perusoikeuskirjan lisäksi tarkempi asetus asiakirjojen saamisesta yleisön tutustuttavaksi (1049/2001). Nämä luovat pohjan, jonka päälle Komissio on säätänyt päätöksiä, menettelyohjeita, sekä -sääntöjä, niin sanottuja soft law instrumentteja. Vaikkakaan näillä instrumenteilla ei ole yhtäläistä lainpohjaa kuten perussopimuksilla tai asetuksilla, ne vaikuttavat olevan vahvemmassa asemassa asiakirjarekisterien yksityiskohtaisemmassa sääntelyssä. Yksi tutkimuksen löydös osoittaakin, että soft law:sta tuleva sääntely osittain poikkeaa asetuksen vaatimuksista liittyen asiakirjojen metadataan tietokannassa. Tutkielma keskittyy siihen, kuinka rakennettu teknologia itsessään pystyy sääntelemään Komission läpinäkyvyyttä. Komission Asiakirjarekisterin analyysi tuo uutta tietoa ensinnäkin siitä, miten tietyt ratkaisut Asiakirjarekisterin rakennuksessa itsessään vaikeuttaa asiakirjojen saantia. Toiseksi analyysi näyttää miten läpinäkyvyys materialisoituu soft law:n ja teknologian pohjalta. Tutkimuksessa käytetään instituutio- ja asiantuntija haastatteluja, jotka tukevat kirjallisuuteen perustuvaa, lainopillista sekä empiiristä tutkimusta. Tutkielman keskeinen löytö on kuinka Komission läpinäkyvyys ei ole käytännössä saavutettavissa jokaiselle. Erityisesti teknologiset ratkaisut ovat johtaneet vaikeuksiin käyttää asiakirjarekisteriä tai löytää sieltä tietoa. Samalla asiantuntijat, joilla on täsmällistä tietoa haluamistaan asiakirjoista eivät monesti pysty löytämään niitä rekistereistä. Asiakirjoihin pääsy vaikuttaa olevan hyvinkin elitistinen oikeus, jos sitä tarkastellaan rekisterien kautta, ja asiakirjarekisterit vaikuttavat olevat enemmän symbolinen ideaalin läpinäkyvyyden ilmentymä. Kuitenkin asiakirja rekisterien ongelmilla on vaikutuksia muihinkin kansalaisten oikeuksiin, kuten asiakirjapyyntöihin. Näin ollen asiakirja rekisterien käytettävyyteen tulisi kohdistaa enemmän huomiota ja resursseja.
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(2023)Over the past 10 years, France has been combatting terrorism though several military interventions in Africa, and especially in the Sahel region. However, over the past years, the French presence has gotten increasingly unpopular and sovereignty claims by the African states grow stronger, which has led to the interventions being shut down one by one, beginning from the intervention in Mali. This thesis gets acquainted with the central political rhetoric and legal justifications offered by France for its military intervention in Mali between 2013-2022. Furthermore, the identified justifications are compared against the global counterterrorism rhetoric and the surrounding legal debates concerning interventionism. The thesis finds that the French counterterrorism rhetoric combined political and legal justifications together in such a way that correlates with the global counterterrorism rhetoric. The findings enhance our understanding on how unilateral military interventions can utilise the global counterterrorism rhetoric in a manner that challenges especially international law on the use of force.
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(2023)Digitalization requires new legislative tools that can effectively address the issues that are specific to digital markets. In the European Union, cases concerning dominant platforms used to fall under EU competition law and Article 102 TFEU, but this legal framework was sometimes ineffective in regulating issues that exist in digital markets. For instance, the Google Shopping case illustrates one of the difficulties of Article 102 TFEU in relation to digital markets, which are the abuses that are specific to digital markets, such as self-favouring. Digital markets evolve rapidly, and thus they require quick and effective responses from legislators. In order to further regulate digital markets, the European Commission introduced the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) in 2020 and the DMA rules start to apply in May 2023. The overall objective of the DMA is to increase contestability and fairness in digital markets while simultaneously creating a more effective legal framework. The DMA is a sector-specific EU regulation that regulates the actions of the biggest digital platforms that are called gatekeepers, which offer their services to business users and end users located in the European Union. When the Commission designates a platform as a gatekeeper, the platform must follow the obligations set out by the DMA within six months after the designation. The main goal of this thesis is analysing the effectiveness of the regulation of digital markets after the DMA. As this thesis is finalized in April 2023 and the DMA rules start to apply in May 2023, this thesis focuses on the elements of effectiveness that can be evaluated now. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of the DMA, one of the central elements is the application of the DMA rules to the Google Shopping case. By applying the new legal framework to a case that was judged under the Article 102 TFEU framework, improvements in effectiveness will be portrayed in a more concrete manner. Furthermore, this thesis also examines the potential shortcomings when it comes to the effectiveness of the DMA. One of the most significant issues of the DMA is its inflexibility towards future developments. This thesis argues that while the DMA provides an effective framework for addressing the current issues in digital markets, it is unable to address future developments in digital markets effectively.
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(2023)This study focuses on an analysis of two challenges facing the Central Asian region: the establishment and advancement of the Rule of Law and the fight against corruption. Despite being a historically important geostrategic region at the crossroads of the European and Asian continents, Central Asia does not always receive the attention it deserves, and research materials specifically concerning the region’s issue of Rule of Law development and its relationship with corruption are few. This study aims to analyse and assess foreign evaluations and promotions of Rule of Law and anticorruption measures targeting Central Asian countries. The specific legacy of Soviet times and countries made of subnational identities and kinship networks suggests another type of modernity that need to be composed with. This study finds that the neoliberal model presuming that a thick rule of law combined with liberalised markets will result in economic development has been discredited by high growth countries having free-market economies and liberalised capitalism but maintaining high level of corruption, institutionalised autocracy and state capture. This study shows that global governance instruments have still not fully come to grasp with this reality. Many still combine economic objectives with rule of law advancement through neoliberal ideals. Yet, the promotion of free trade and deregulated markets can encourage rent-seeking activities, which in turn can foster corruption weakening the rule of law in developed countries and hindering its development in transition nations.
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(2022)Leveraging new satellite communication technology, the European Commission published in February 2022 a proposal for a regulation which would facilitate the creation of a European space-based secure communication system serving EU institutions and agencies, Member States as well as EU citizens. In terms of Member States intra-governmental use, several public and private entities in the EU have expressed interest in supplementing national public authority networks with the technology that the proposed system uses. However, public authority networks are strictly regulated due their critical function in terms of safety and national security. An issue of regulatory and policy compatibility thus arises. After demonstrating why Finland is a relevant object to study, this thesis proceeds to analyse and compare relevant national legislation and policy with the proposed regulation and related documents, in order to assess whether, and to what extent, the proposed system is compatible, particularly in the context of control, security and ownership. While the research identified several issues relating to transparency, procurement, financing, ownership, access and control, the thesis ultimately finds that these concerns do not merit a conclusion of incompatibility.
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(2022)The principle of transparency is a core principle within EU administration being highly intertwined with the right to access to documents. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (ATD Regulation) lays down the principles and limits on public access to documents. The European Ombudsman has set itself the particular task of promoting transparency and the right to access to documents. The research focusses on the processing of public access to documents requests by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). While EMA and Frontex apply so-called queuing mechanisms, ECHA processes access to documents requests in batches when multiple requests or one large request by one applicant are submitted in a short period of time as these multiple submissions could possibly result in adversely affecting the proper functioning of the agencies. The agencies base these means of processing on Article 6(3) ATD enabling the EU institution to confer with the applicant with a view to finding a fair solution. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that EU institutions can, based on the principle of proportionality, balance the interests of the applicant to gain access to documents against the workload of the EU institutions caused by the submission of multiple access to documents requests. The Court further stated that Article 6(3) mirrors the possibility of reconciling the interests of the applicant with those of good administration. The European Ombudsman found that applying a queuing mechanism can be considered a suitable means to process multiple requests by one applicant under exceptional circumstances, but academic literature has not dealt with this topic yet. The thesis hence addresses more profoundly the question of the extent to which the queuing mechanisms and the processing in batches as applied by the EU agencies in question are able to reconcile the principle of transparency with the right to good administration and fairness amongst applicants while maintaining the core business and efficiency of the applicable EU agency. Furthermore, the thesis examines if a better alternative to these mechanisms can be found. The study comes to the conclusion that, on the one hand, the queuing mechanisms and the processing in batches have deficits in regard to enhancing transparency and complying with the ATD Regulation. On the other hand, they are able to balance out the different interests between the EU agency and the applicant to some extent. Instead of however finding a better alternative to these mechanisms, a potential solution is, as the study has revealed, to find a better administrative process to reduce the number of ATD requests in order to deprive the queuing mechanisms and the processing in batches of their necessity to better adhere to the principle of transparency and the principle of efficiency. A better administrative process could for instance be the combination of a web form to submit an access to documents request with the obligatory search in a public register of documents to potentially reduce the overall number of requests submitted to the EU institutions every day. Ultimately, it is in the hands of the EU institutions to make EU administration more transparent and to reconcile the different interests at stake.
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(2023)The thesis examines the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in a conflict context in Ukraine. The theoretical standpoint is critical feminism. The aim has been to understand how the implementation of the resolution as part of international law works in the context of war, what kind of security needs have been voiced by Ukrainian women, and to what extend the national implementation of the 1325 agenda has been able to bring transformative, structural change to the lives of Ukrainian women in midst of war. The thesis finds that the two Ukrainian National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security (for years 2016–2020 and 2020–2025) has focused heavily on military security, despite the plans themselves covering the agenda comprehensively. Women’s meaningful participation to peacebuilding has been side-lined, efforts to ensure protection and human rights have brought only limited results, and development has been negative in the area of economic security. Greatest progress has been seen in military security, which has led to the militarisation of the agenda. Thanks to international support, Ukraine’s action plans are technically high-level, but their implementation on national, regional, as well as local levels has suffered from the lack of coordination, resources, and technical capacities. Political will is heavily linked to Ukraine’s Western integration. Nevertheless, Ukrainian women have considered the National Action Plans as important tools for advocacy. The possibility for transformative change cannot be overlooked from the outside, yet lasting change requires continuous work. Finland can utilise lessons learned in Ukraine in its support for the agenda’s implementation internationally.
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(2020)This thesis studies Finland’s and Sweden’s current and potential future engagement methods with the DPRK by focussing on women’s rights and gender equality. Interviews held with Finnish and Swedish foreign ministry representatives, NGO workers, and experts on North Korea reveal how the two countries engage with North Korea and how women’s rights and gender equality are being addressed in the Northeast Asian context. It will first outline how this research was conducted before introducing some of the most pertinent problems relating to gender equality and women’s right in the DPRK. Next, the histories between North Korea and the two Nordic states is outlined, after which theoretical considerations concerning feminist foreign policy, human-rights based, middlepowermanship, and soft power are discussed. Research findings are then examined and analysed before concluding with further broader examination of Finnish and Swedish engagement with North Korea and the importance of advancing gender equality and women’s rights globally.
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