Documents soft law 87 results

"It may seem dangerous to express oneself on the future of labour law, since it is widely considered to be in crisis by scholars of the field. There is no doubt that anyone attempting to predict the probable developments by presenting hypotheses regarding these developments runs the risk of making errors. Especially the impossibility to guarantee the relevancy of the chosen parameters and a correct evaluation of the nature of their relations could lead to erroneous predictions. The same applies when one has the ambition to pronounce oneself on the future of institutions, structures or procedures laid down in and protected by law.

The objective of this book is threefold. First of all, it draws attention to a number of phenomena and processes both within and outside the law that affect the protective mechanisms and essential functions of labour law. Secondly, the authors want to point out their main causes and principal consequences. Finally, the book reflects the remedies proposed by the authors to preserve the essential task of labour law. Those objectives are achieved by developing the following four themes: the existential relation between labour law, the labour market and social competition; the historical tie between labour law and human dignity; the relationship between labour law, market law and (social) competition law; and finally the risk of a renewed contestation of the dignity of working people.

The aim of this book is to provide intellectually challenging ideas for those interested in understanding, explaining and interpreting labour laws - whether they are scholars, practitioners, judges, policy-makers, or workers and employers."

"This article focuses on the effects on labour of the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The author makes a brief introductory reference to the origins of international labour law and the new developments in worker protection in times of globalization, highlighting the social clause, among other mechanisms. The social clause in Chapter 18 of the United States-Chile FTA is examined, basically identifying four types of standards: Labour commitments, labour obligations, cooperation, and procedures. Since labour commitments constitute soft law guidelines, their practical efficacy is equivalent to that of a policy statement. On the other hand, a breach of Labour Obligations can result in financial penalties for the offender. However, these Labour Obligations are limited to monitoring the enforcement of each Member State's existing labour laws. The social clause is, therefore, fairly sterile, and the author concludes that the worker protection mechanisms in this type of FTA are in need of reformulation."

"Labour laws are facing an enforcement crisis: a large and increasing number of employers fail to obey them. This paper begins by putting forward a number of reasons for this development, which carries with it harsh consequences for many workers around the world. It then warns against the trend towards ‘soft law' solutions that include a voluntarist component. Although these ‘soft' regulations that aim to create positive incentives could certainly be useful in the labour law context, when invoked as a solution to compliance problems they translate into an unjustified lowering of standards. The paper then moves to examine solutions used or proposed in the context of cleaning and security workers in the Israeli public sector, as a case study. A proposed solution in the context of identifying the real employer, that includes a voluntary component, is criticized as an example of unjustified deregulation. Two additional solutions – one to reject repeat offenders and the other to prohibit money-losing contracts – are used to show that incentive schemes can be used successfully to improve compliance without voluntary components that result in lowering standards."

"Andrew Johnston examines EC regulation of national corporate governance systems through the lenses of economic theory and reflexive governance. By contrasting the normative demands of the neoclassical 'agency' model with those of the productive coalition model, he shows how their incompatibility required political compromise. Reflexive governance theory is then used to explain how progress has been possible. Through detailed analysis of both case law and positive regulation, the author highlights the move from positive to negative integration; the benefits as well as the limits of regulatory competition; and the significant role of reflexive techniques in both preventing market failure and enabling positive integration to proceed. The workable compromise that has emerged between market integration and continued regulatory diversity at national level demonstrates that procedural regulation can steer autonomous social subsystems towards greater responsibility and a better articulation of the public good."

"Prisoners have a right to health care and to be protected against inhumane and degrading treatment. Health care personnel and public policy makers play a central role in the protection of these rights and in the pursuit of public health goals. This article examines the legal framework for prison medicine in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland and provides examples of this framework that has shaped prisoners' medical care, including preventive measures. Geneva constitutes an intriguing example of how the Council of Europe standards concerning prison medicine have acquired a legal role in a Swiss canton. Learning how these factors have influenced implementation of prison medicine standards in Geneva may be helpful to public health managers elsewhere and encourage the use of similar strategies"