RIGHT TO ADEQUATE HOUSING IN LEBANON

“The right to adequate housing” is guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its article (25) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in article 11. Both documents have recognized the right to adequate housing, health and well-being. The classical definition of this right is based on three pillars: security, peace and dignity; however, the right to adequate housing also requires that other conditions should be provided to everyone as affordability of housing, adequate infrastructure, clean water, and sustainable environment. The Lebanese Constitution assures this right since it abides by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international conventions. Hence, this paper will study the Right to Adequate Housing in Lebanon in general and the situation of refugees’ housing (Palestinian and Syrian) in particular. Moreover, the paper will study the Lebanese urban development policies and how they affect the state of related rights such as right to healthy environment and right to good health and well-being

BUILDING PERMIT: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE LEGALFRAMEWORK IN LEBANON

The Building Permit (BP) is a required administrative authorization issued by public authorities. It ensures that the planned construction is abiding by the legal framework governing the construction works in the targeted are or zone. In Lebanon, the Construction Law, No.646/2004 regulates the issuance of BPs. The technical and legal procedures involve require the engagement of various administrative authorities. In this context, three institutions are involved. At first, the Order of Engineers and Architects (OEA), the General Directorate of Urban Planning (GDUP) and the relevant local authorities on the Municipal level. However, as of 2014, the Ministry of the Interior issued four circulars, supposedly, aiming at facilitating the issuance of the BP. As result, it allowed for the circumvent of the notification and mandatory verification by OEA and GDUP. This concentration of power within the direct executive local authorities was portrayed as a way to trim down the massive displacements towards urban centers. Moreover, it aimed at lowering the rate of illegal building plots the disadvantaged peripheries. This article intends is to investigate the legality of these circulars vis-à-vis the Lebanese Construction Law. It will be closely assessing the impact of the 2017 circulars on the urban and rural environment. Moreover, it will inquire on the potential risks due to the sidelining of the main technical institutions. It is aimed that this article will contribute to the overall national debate regarding the healthiness and the legality of executive degrees and their impact on the everyday life of the resident

“Opening-Up” the WTO: What Does It Mean for China?

Text of speech delivered at China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), Beijing, October 9; Tsinghua Law School, Beijing, October 10; Wuhan University, WTO Center, October 12; Fudan University, Shanghai, October 13, 200

“Opening-Up” the WTO: What Does It Mean for China?

Text of speech delivered at China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), Beijing, October 9; Tsinghua Law School, Beijing, October 10; Wuhan University, WTO Center, October 12; Fudan University, Shanghai, October 13, 200

Access to Medicines and the Right to (Cultural) Life

Published version available from: http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754677611This groundbreaking book is the first collection to investigate together the law, political science and ethical perspectives on the right and value of life

International Journal of Law and Society

noneInternational Journal of Law and Society (IJLS) provides a forum for sharing timely and up-to-date publication of scientific research and review articles. The journal publishes original research papers at the forefront of law and social sciences. The topics included and emphasized in this journal are, but not limited to, law, political science, economics, environment, history, communication, sociology and safety. The topics related to this journal include but are not limited to: International law Contract law Civil law Political law Sociology Business studies Industrial relations Criminology Safety Constitutional and administrative law Tort law Common law and equity Legal history Social philosophy Behavioral science Management Environmental social science Criminal law Property law Religious law Political science Social psychology Communication studies Economics EducationopenTuzza, S.Tuzza, S

The Role of the World Bank in Controlling Corruption

In 1997, Professor of Law and Political Science, Susan Rose-Ackerman of Yale University, delivered the Georgetown Law Center’s seventeenth Annual Philip A. Hart Memorial Lecture: The World Bank’s Role in Controlling Corruption. Susan Rose-Ackerman is Henry R. Luce Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University, and Co-director of the Law School’s Center for Law, Economics, and Public Policy. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University and has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Fullbright Commission. She was a visiting Research Fellow at the World Bank in 1995-96 where she did research on corruption and economic development. She is the author of Corruption and Government Causes, Consequences and Reform (1999), Controlling Environmental Policy: The Limits of Public Law in Germany and the United States (1995); Rethinking the Progressive Agenda: The Reform of the American Regulatory State (1992); and Corruption: A Study in Political Economy (1978); and joint author of The Uncertain Search for Environmental Quality (1974) and The Nonprofit Enterprise in Market Economies (1986). She has published widely in law, economics, and policy journals. Her research interests include comparative regulatory law and policy, the political economy of corruption, public policy and administrative law, and law and economics. In this essay Professor Rose-Ackerman discuses how widespread corruption is a symptom that the state is functioning poorly. Ineffective states can retard and misdirect economic growth. International aid and lending organizations have begun to focus on corruption control as part of a general rethinking of their role in the post-Cold War world. Both James Wolfensohn, the President of the World Bank (Bank), and Michel Camdessus, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have put the control of corruption on their institutions\u27 agendas. Nevertheless, some argue that corruption is a political issue and is, therefore, outside the purview of the World Bank. Corruption, however, has fundamental economic impacts and is thus an appropriate area for World Bank and IMF concern. Bribes represent illegal user fees, taxes, or access charges paid to public agents. These payments influence economic decisions ranging from the size and character of public investment projects to the level of compliance with business regulations. It is difficult to see how a concern for the economic costs of corruption can be responsibly excluded from World Bank lending criteria

Lex Majoris Partis: How the Senate Can End the Filibuster on Any Day by Simple Majority Rule

Amar, the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, explains his preferred version of the so-called nuclear option by which a simple Senate majority may modify or eliminate the Senate\u27s entrenched filibuster practice