Browsing by master's degree program "Master's Programme in Global Governance Law"

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.

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.

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.

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.

The acquis of chemical legislation in the EU is probably one of the most comprehensive and complex in the world. Often, the European Union has been the pioneer in the adoption of legislation aimed at protecting its citizens as well as the environment. The field of chemical management is not different; the EU has paved the way to a new and reinforced concept of systematic protection of human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals that has initiated a global approach. In this work, I focus on the public accessibility aspect of the EU legislation on chemicals, providing an analysis of the current framework as well as some reflections on whether the system provides the expected level of accessibility. Overall, the main research question at the core of this thesis is: “is the EU chemical legislation accessible enough? And if not, can we deduce areas for improvement?”. After sharing an overview of the legal framework and of the key actors involved in the implementation of the EU chemical legislation, by using the case study of REACH restrictions, in my conclusions, I provide suggestions for improvement points relating to the identified shortcomings in terms of public accessibility.

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.

The thesis will be focusing on the newly adopted island derogation, which was included when the EU revised the EU ETS and expanded it to the maritime sector. The island derogation means that Member States of the EU can choose to allow that allowances for emissions are not required on routes between the mainland and an island. Derogations for maritime MBMs as well as the EU ETS has been the topic of prior research, but with the EU ETS expanding and derogations such as the island derogation forming, there is a clear gap in the research that should be addressed. This thesis aims to contribute to the academic discussion regarding maritime MBMs and the EU ETS by asking two research questions. Firstly, how is the island derogation described throughout the legislative process in the EU? This question opens the concept of a derogation in a maritime MBM and aims to find what the EU institutions wanted to achieve with the derogation. The findings show that the island derogation can be classed as a roue-based derogation, but still holds characteristics of a ship-type derogation. In the original proposal to the revision of Directive 2003/87/EC, the Commission did not include an island derogation. The need for an island derogation was recognized both in the Parliament and the Council, however the final adopted formation of the island derogation can be seen as to be formed through the discussion in the Council. The second research question focuses on the implementation of the Directive on the national level in Finland, and specifically which problems regarding the derogation can be identified in the national preparatory documents. Through researching the preparatory documents such as the bill proposal HE 71/2023 vp and the memorandum on the maritime expansion of the EU ETS by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, problems of allocating the benefit from the island derogation and skewing of competition between the shipping companies is identified as being the most relevant problems. Even though these problems are acknowledged, Finland does not seem discouraged of using the voluntary island derogation. Instead, there are plans to support the maritime sector that do not benefit from the island derogation similarly. The findings create a base for further research and show that the island derogation, in its adopted form, includes loopholes that are hard to fill at the national level. With the derogation being relevant between 2024-2030, it should be researched after how influential the island derogation was on easing the impact of the ETS on the Åland Islands, or if it only provided an option for shipping companies to lag behind in the green transition.

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.