Chukwuma Agu holds a PhD from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and works with the African Institute for Applied Economics, Enugu Nigeria. His research Interest is in open economy macroeconomics with previous works in such areas as macroeconomic policy reforms, finance, trade and competitiveness. He is also deeply interested in tools of macroeconomic modelling. He anchored the drafting of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), the economic policy reform agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2004. At the Institute, he initiated and successfully coordinated the first ever sub national business environment and competitiveness assessment of all states in Nigeria. He is an alumnus of the Economic Modelling School, Brussels, the Cambridge Advanced Programme on Rethinking Development Economics and was visiting scholar at the University of Oxford in 2006. He has published extensively on African macroeconomic, trade and finance issues and is consultant to a number of development partners and economic think-tanks across the continent.

Anthonia Achike and Moses Oduh work at the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Abstract

This paper looks into the potential impacts of the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between African Caribbean and Pacific Countries and the European Union on agriculture and food production in Nigeria. Using a partial equilibrium analysis, it assesses possible changes in production arising from implementation of Common External Tariff and/or EPA on three crops considered critical for livelihoods and food security namely rice, cassava and sorghum. Results indicate that aggregate imports will increase leading to possible crowding out of domestic agricultural output given low processing quality. The production of rice and sorghum will suffer major falls. The fall in cassava, presently not much imported, will be less but not altogether negligible. The work recommends closer attention to the provisions of the ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) as a possible stop-gap measure to ameliorate the negative consequences of the EPA if it must be adopted.

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Dr. Agustina Sanllehi, Jose Ramon (Dr. Llicenciat en Dret,Universitat Pompeu Fabra ; Diploma de Estudios Avanzados (suficiencia investigadora, Universitat Pompeu Fabra ; Doctor en Dret Penal i Ciències Penals,Programa de doctorat de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra ) is an Associate director of the Center for Advanced Social Studies, and Professor in Criminal Law and Criminology at the Universidad Internacional de Catalunya. He was a Visiting Scholar at Cambridge Institute of Criminology (2007), Pace Law School (2008), and Rutgers University (2009).

Abstract

In the legal framework of the imposing criminal liability within organizational settings, certain duties of surveillance and control by the employer can be identified to avoid the attribution of liability for crimes committed by others within the organization. Simultaneously, some limits also arise from the employer’s duty to respect an employee’s privacy. As a result, the implementation of prevention and control strategies should be put into practice, respecting certain principles that balance conflicting interests, so that such strategies cannot be applied without certain boundaries. For a comprehensive analysis, an interdisciplinary focus on (i) the types of crimes perpetrated within organizational settings, (ii) the tools and ways in implementing control, and (iii) the subsequent privacy conflicts is used in order to provide a fertile ground for our purposes. This analysis is aimed at informing decision–making issues regarding prevention policies or strategies adopted by public and private agents, as well as the elaboration process and application of norms –whether criminal, organisational or administrative ones. An analysis of the justifications that employers may invoke in their favour in certain limited cases is not completed without assessing (i) the contextual particularities of the company’s environment, (ii) the hidden character of the criminal or deviant act and the liability risk, and (iii) the way in which the threat embodied by the employee’s crime leaves employers without the necessary means to defend themselves against this risk

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Dr. Mutasim Alqudah (Bachelor Degree in Law, Yarmouk University, Jordan;  LLM in International Commercial Law, University of Kent; PhD in International Commercial Law, University of Leicester, England) is an Assistant Professor in Law at the Hashemite University, Jordan

Abstract

Transnational litigation has always constituted a dilemma for consumers. The Brussels I Regulation includes special consumer jurisdiction rules. The rules give the consumer the right to litigate cross-border disputes in the courts of his country of domicile if certain requirements are satisfied. However, the consumer cannot enjoy this protection if the dispute relates to online arbitration. The reason is that arbitration is excluded from the scope of applicability of the Brussels I Regulation. Reliance on the rules of The Unfair Contract Terms Directive (1993/13/EEC) will not always help the consumer to avoid transnational litigation relating to online B2C arbitration. As a result, the consumer may refrain from referring disputes to online B2C arbitration in order to avoid the risk of being exposed to transnational litigation. This article deliberates on ways to overcome this problem and in particular amending the scope of applicability of the Brussels I Regulation to include Online Business-to-Consumer Arbitration. 

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Dr. Amos Avny, a Futurist and a Strategist and currently a retired professor and a senior consultant, deals with Globalization, Human Capital Development, Technology - Society relationships and e-Government issues. Dr. Avny was graduated in 1994 from Virginia Tech (VPI&SU) as PhD in public Administration and Policy, and in 1990 received his M. Sc. in Management & Business from National-Louis University. Prior to this studying period , A. Avny designed, led and managed many development projects all over the globe. Dr. Avny published numerous articles in professional magazines on the above topics.

Abstract

During the second half of 2008 the world passed a severe financial brake down, which rapidly developed into a global recession. Many agreed that this crisis, caused by exaggerated greed of individuals and institutions, symbolizes the end of the Neo-liberal Capitalism dominance over the theoretical and practical approaches of economics. The general demand for a large governmental involvement in the economy, which demonstrates this collapse, together with the new character of the post-modern society encouraged the demand for another approach. The new paradigm in search is a reformed capital setup, named below as the Social-Capitalism, which will maintain a dynamic equilibrium based on a triad of Business Profitability, Social Accountability and Environmental Responsibility. This Social-Capitalist setup should be based on collaboration and Public Private Partnership (PPP) and be directed by the "common good" instead of the former individual egotistic greed.

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Ekaterina Anyanova finished her Ph.D Studies at the University of Hamburg (Scholarship of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation).She is currentlly doing her PHD studies at the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow .She also works as a Legal Consultant for LLC “LUKOIL-Kaliningradmorneft”. She was also an associate at the International Max Planck Research School for Maritime Affairs and a lecturer at at the chair of International and European Law at the I. Kant State University of Russia. Ekaterina finished her Masters at the University of Hamburg ((grade of A – „suma cum laude“)

Abstract

This paper looks into the potential impacts of the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between African Caribbean and Pacific Countries and the European Union on agriculture and food production in Nigeria. Using a partial equilibrium analysis, it assesses possible changes in production arising from implementation of Common External Tariff and/or EPA on three crops considered critical for livelihoods and food security namely rice, cassava and sorghum. Results indicate that aggregate imports will increase leading to possible crowding out of domestic agricultural output given low processing quality. The production of rice and sorghum will suffer major falls. The fall in cassava, presently not much imported, will be less but not altogether negligible. The work recommends closer attention to the provisions of the ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) as a possible stop-gap measure to ameliorate the negative consequences of the EPA if it must be adopted.

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Adithya Banavar  is a 4th Year Student, B.A. L.L.B (hons), National Law School of India University, Bangalore (NLSIU).He is also the editor of the Indian Journal of Law and Technology.

Abstract

On 30th October 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held en banc that a computer related invention is patentable if “(1) it is tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or (2) it transforms a particular article into a different state or thing”. The ‘useful, concrete and tangible result’ test laid down by the same Court in State Street  was effectively overruled. On June 1st 2009, the Supreme Court of the United States of America has granted a petition for a writ of certiorari against the decision in Bilski. Bilski is regressive in many senses, but is also consistent with precedent. The aim of this paper is to study the evolution of the law in relation to software patents over the years in the USA and compare this with the present Indian position. This paper aims to outline the position of law in the United States as it stands now. It also advances arguments as to what the United States Supreme Court should hold in the Bilski case, now that it has granted an order of certiorari. It then looks at the position of Indian law before concluding on how the Courts can interpret the present law and whether any change in the law is needed to that effect. In India, the statute excludes from patentable subject matter – “computer programs per se or algorithms”. There is no Indian case law in relation to the interpretation of this clause. Clearly, how this is interpreted would make a considerable difference to the patentability of software in the Indian scenario. The paper is limited in scope to legal arguments and does not look at policy questions, as to whether software should be granted patent protection or not.

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