The author explores how consent functions as commitment, content, and constitution for international agreements. He argues that consent constructs all forms of international commitment. Consent elucidates an agreement’s contents – what the agreement ‘is’ in terms of scope and substance. Consent can also function as a constitution – delimiting not only ‘primary’ rules encapsulated by an agreement’s existence and contents, but ‘secondary rules’ determining who can make agreements, how they must do so, and ways to recognize, adjust, and end them. For all these functions, consent remains an under-examined and undifferentiated concept. Today, almost any of consent’s functions can be established by almost any formal or informal means. Alongside existing proposals (presumptions/defaults and content-based criteria), this chapter proposes that international law should pursue more – and different – formalities for consent. Having different forms of consent follow its different functions may, according to the author, improve the efficacy of consent and with it the efficacy of international agreements overall.

The Chinese Civil Code, approved on 28 May 2021, is an important code for several reasons: it is a synthesis of the Roman legal system, a privileged place collecting institutions and dogmatic systems through categories, institutes and principles that provides a careful and balanced synthesis of the matter it regulates. Besides the well-known and peculiar concepts of the civil law system encompassed by the Chinese Civil Code, socialism with Chinese characteristics and custom as source of law in the absence of statutory provisions set the Code between past and future with its own identity and the ability to adapt to the continuous and future changes of the surrounding reality. The only certainty in this continuous evolution of the surrounding reality, is that the Code belongs and is open to the system in a process of continuous and mutual enhancement and complementarity. The typical and distinctive patterns of Roman tradition are endorsed and combined with Chinese legal tradition for their interpretative value, both individually and in the context of the Code as a whole, to give certainty and solidity to a regulatory system meant to last over time.

Of particular concern in the literature on business is the importance of trust and the disabling consequences of broken trust on business partnerships. Chapter 3 draws on extensive interviews in exploring the issue of trust, and reports novel findings which lead to new theoretical formulations. It has been central in sociological understanding that embeddedness in social and business exchanges generates and maintains interpersonal trust. Should opportunistic behaviour or violation of trust occur it is routinely assumed that such breaches would be exposed or punished, including reputation loss and exclusion from future exchange opportunities. What is less explored is that breaches of trust in many instances may not lead to disclosure of such a behaviour or termination of exchange relationships. Chapter 3 expands our understanding of broken trust. It identifies and explores mechanisms which operate in avoidance of confrontation, exposure and retaliation in instances of breaches of trust and also strategies employed by entrepreneurs in continuation of exchange relationships with violators of trust. The chapter examines underexplored aspects of the complexity and dynamics of business exchange relations and points to a rethinking of trust and social exchange.

The chapter considers four aspects of the law of contractual interpretation in France that were affected by the reforms of the French Civil Code in 2016. It looks at the dichotomy between the subjective and objective approaches to interpretation, the codification of the dénaturation power of the Cour de cassation, the relationship between interprétation créatrice and interprétation explicative, and the application of the contra proferentem rule in the context of the interpretation of standard-form contracts. The innovations in the reforms are an improvement on the previous set of rules on interpretation. Whilst some controversies remain, the new principles address several of the long-running debates that were live before the reforms. They also bring a more modern and international approach to French contract law, which in part can be attributed to the extent to which the drafters were inspired by and drew upon a number of the international contract law instruments.

A deeply contentious judicial debate over the enforcement of contracts for the sale or hire of enslaved people erupted as one of legal Reconstruction’s central battles. This chapter explains the doctrinal approaches favored by judges, analyzes their underlying legal rationales, and explores the consequences of choosing one rationale over the others. It argues that a fundamental disagreement about the meaning of the Thirteenth Amendment caused the judicial discord. The outcome of that disgreement – the enforcement of contracts – permanently weakened the power and potential of the Thirteenth Amendment.

I begin with an account of the fundamental aims of Hegel’s ‘science of right’ so as to show how his account of property faces two key challenges: justifying the concept of property and any specific form of it, on the one hand, and integrating property into the system of right, which includes subordinating it to any higher moments of right, on the other. I then turn to Hegel’s argument for private property. I distinguish between two interpretations of his argument: the ‘embodiment’ interpretation and the ‘recognition’ interpretation. I identify serious problems with the first interpretation and then argue for a version of the second one that entails the type of triadic model of the concept of property developed by Fichte and already implicit in Kant’s Rechtslehre. I show that this triadic model, and thus Hegel’s full argument for private property, becomes explicit only at the stage of contract. Next, I discuss how Hegel seeks to integrate private property into ethical life, and I argue that the idea of ethical life is, in fact, more compatible with some form of common or collective property because this form of property is more expressive of this idea.

Fiduciary relationships arise in equity’s exclusive jurisdiction and are relationships to which equity grants particular protection. Fiduciary obligations are owed by the fiduciary to identified others or a group of people, often described as the principal of the obligation or, somewhat confusingly, the beneficiary to whom the obligation is owed. In broad terms, the core obligation of a fiduciary is undivided loyalty. The fiduciary must act exclusively in the interests of the beneficiary. This obligation is not unbounded; for example, fiduciary obligations may be limited by time or the nature of the activities giving rise to the obligation in question. Fiduciary obligations thus exist within a defined scope. Additionally, not all of the obligations owed by the fiduciary to the beneficiary will be fiduciary obligations. For example, a trustee may be required to exercise a degree of care when making investment decisions, but this obligation is not fiduciary in nature.

All dispositions that are intended to transfer property, such as contracts, gifts, trusts and wills, must be clearly defined if they are to be legally effective. In the event of a dispute, a court may have to ascertain whether the property owner intended to dispose of her property and, if so, on what terms. In some cases, the court may have to determine the identity, or identities, of the recipients of the property, or the quantum of property transferred. A recipient of property will need to know if the transfer constitutes a gift, a loan or a trust. All trusts, whether or not they also have to satisfy writing requirements, must be sufficiently certain in order to be enforceable. The certainty requirements for trusts are more demanding than for contracts because trusts can affect the rights of parties who did not agree to, or participate in, its creation. These parties may include the beneficiaries and third parties who do business with the trustee.

By their very nature eHealth applications – including telemedicine, AI-based medicine and ‘smart’ medical devices – are ubiquitous: These tools may be used by the physician next door as well as in the most remote locations abroad. Moreover, highly sensitive medical data may flow around the world within a split second. Against this backdrop, eHealth and telemedicine services can be provided from – and the necessary data can be transferred to – virtually every corner of the world. By contrast, the scope of application of regulation relating to AI-driven medicine, as well as eHealth and telemedicine, is usually confined to the legislating state. Moreover, the number and complexity of rules and regulations in this field vary considerably from state to state. Does this mean that international MedTech businesses may simply set up camp in the jurisdiction most favourable to their business models? For practitioners in telemedicine, the MedTech industry providing AI applications or digital medical devices such as eHealth apps, as well as for patients, it is essential to know which laws govern activities undertaken in cross-border scenarios. This concerns licensing requirements and the level of data protection as well as contract and tort law applicable to eHealth, telemedicine and telesurgery services.

Mediation confidentiality can be characterised as the cornerstone of the mediation process. The legal protection of mediation evidence can emanate from common law privilege, contract and statute. If comprehensive statutory protection is available, parties may not have to protect from disclosure mediation evidence in their contract, or rely on common law privilege with its various exceptions. There is often a lacuna between the general perception that complete confidentiality applies to the participants in a mediation, and the more limited protection conferred by the courts. While a balance is required between supporting mediation and not freezing litigation or upholding illegality, this balance is not easy to achieve. The approach of making mediation confidentiality ‘absolute’ appears to create straightforward rules for an informal process, but it can prove to be either overreaching or inappropriate. While uniform laws offer consistency, experience indicates that they fail to gain sufficient traction or acceptability to have widespread impact. In protecting mediation confidentiality, it is important that courts retain the power to admit mediation evidence in appropriate cases.

Religious networks were part of the Ancient Greek economy and formed the basis of the Greek expansion in the Mediterranean. From the archaic period onwards, emporia and port cities were cosmopolitan environments in which different rituals and cults coexisted. Sanctuaries hosted cults, which often supported the activity of traders, but they were themselves economic centers under the authority of Greek cities. The property of the gods soon became the basis of economic development, including building activity, lending, and renting practices. As business units, Greek sanctuaries easily attracted large numbers of people, especially during religious festivals. They facilitated the development of commercial activities thanks to their financial capacity. The interactions of a sanctuary thus created several forms of sociability not limited to trade with the gods. Through several institutional mechanisms, as for instance asylia, many Greek cities were able to make their sanctuaries protected places where common codes of behavior applied to all participants. Myths and cults also supported the initiatives of cities to build new networks.

This chapter is centered on the scientific conceptualization of the term “photography” and its relationship with the photographer, the photographed, and the viewer, including that which is existent between the photographer and the camera, especially the chemistry between both lenses — biological and technological — the synergy and the differences. Photographs, according to the chapter, are representations of the reality of a particular timeframe. By answering certain expedient questions, the author engages his collections (with pictorial evidence) to illustrate the nature of photography vis-à-vis other factors that contribute to the shot, such as the camera and how it is received by the people. Moreover, the chapter views photography as a “social contract” between the photographer and the photographed, and “construction” as the process of taking the shot and reproducing the image. As for the interpretation of the picture by the viewer, it is believed that the pictures themselves dictate how they are to be interpreted or engaged, although this is also highly dependent on the viewer’s understanding. In addition, the chapter explores the effect of photography at its dawn and what its exclusion of African peculiarity, color-wise, meant.

Chapter 3 covers theoretical issues surrounding the nature of a “license” of IP and how it compares to similar rights of usage in the context of real and personal property. It considers whether, as some courts have held, a license is a covenant not to sue, or a property right with more substantial ties to the underlying IP rights. It next addresses the law governing IP transactions, including state contract law, property law, the Uniform Commercial Code and federal common law. It concludes with a discussion of the effects of transfers of IP on underlying license rights.

Although the heterogeneity of topics in Natures Pictures has discouraged discussion of the volume as a whole, one salient topic throughout is Cavendish’s experience of the English Civil Wars – explicitly treated in her poem, “A Description of the Civil Warrs,” and recounted in “A True Relation” – as it relates to her interest in political theory in the tales. Despite the prevailing assumption that Cavendish was an unequivocal royalist, her explicit statements of royalism in “The She-Anchoret” and “A True Relation” coexist with – but also place under erasure – the more veiled critique of Charles I in “The Moral Fable of the Ant and the Bee” and the complex political analysis concerning the monarch’s relationship to the subject in “The Contract” and “Assaulted and Pursued Chastity.” The contrast between the discursive on the one hand, and the literary or fictive on the other, enables Cavendish to hew to her expected royalist position in the former while exploring oppositional political perspectives in the latter.

Public contracts are governed by rules and procedures distinct from private law contracts. The criteria for contrats administratifs are laid down in case law and by the legislator. The administrative courts treat as public contracts those which perform a public service or give unusual power to the public authority. The legislature has rules on public procurement and contracts for the sale of the public domain. Special rules apply to the contracts of public bodies with an industrial and commercial function and to contract formation, especially relating to public procurement. The rules on the validity of contractual consent and content mirror private law. Rules in relation to the performance of the contract are designed to protect the public interest. These may include powers for the administration to modify, suspend or terminate performance. They also include protection for either party against cost escalation. Remedies in public contracts are available to third parties affected. Public authorities may have powers to secure performance from a private contractor. The chapter concludes with reflections on the influence of EU law and the WTO on public procurement law in France.

In this chapter we will examine how key institutions were mobilized to shape China’s early modern business practices under weak state engagement of the economy, and a growing foreign presence. Business practices in the late imperial period rested on four pillars, each a fundamental part of the institutional framework that structured social and economic life. The first, family, provided templates for the utilization of capital and labor and the mobilization of trust, tools that proved as useful for China’s late imperial commercial economy as for the early modern economy of industrial enterprise and global engagement. The second might be termed the system of private ordering that served generations of Chinese merchants and others in combining capital and establishing the terms of economic interaction, often through written contracts whose provisions established highly flexible forms of partnership that continued to form the basis of most Chinese business until the early PRC. The third, native place, in significant ways mirrored the intangible assets provided by ties of kinship, offering a predetermined basis for co-operation, nurturing and protecting group interests and skills and, like the fourth, grounding these intangibles in very tangible organizations catering to inhabitants of a particular city, region, or province.