Regulatory Impact Assessment: A survey of selected developing and emerging economies

Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) involves a systematic appraisal of the social, economic and environmental impacts of proposed regulations and other kinds of policy instruments before they are adopted. A vast amount of academic literature in the last decade has charted the diffusion of RIA in OECD countries and EU member states. However, relatively little is known about the extent to which RIA has been adopted and implemented in developing countries. The last research attempting to shed light on this issue over a decade ago found that a number of were beginning to apply some form of regulatory assessment but that its development was at an early stage. Since then RIA has become almost universally adopted in OECD and EU member states as well as promoted as a tool for good (regulatory) governance in developing countries by international donors and organizations such as OECD, the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group (IFC). What, then, is the extent of RIA adoption and implementation in these countries today? This working paper addresses this question through a survey of RIA in 14 developing and emerging economies based on documentary analysis as well as semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. The survey explores topics such as the legal and institutional framework of RIA, organizational capacity, and use of tools and methods (e.g. Cost Benefit Analysis). The results suggest that while an increasing number of developing countries have made efforts to introduce RIA in their decision making processes, these efforts have not yet led to a sustainable RIA system which significantly contributes to the good regulatory governance of these countries

Advancing the Right to Health: The Vital Role of Law

Effective laws and an enabling legal environment are essential to a healthy society. Most public health challenges – from infectious and non-communicable diseases to injuries, from mental illness to universal health coverage – have a legal component. At global, national and local levels, law is a powerful tool for advancing the right to health. This tool is, however, often underutilized. This report aims to raise awareness about the role that public health laws can play in advancing the right to health and in creating the conditions for all people to live healthy lives. The report provides guidance about issues and requirements to be addressed during the process of developing or reforming public health laws, with case studies drawn from countries around the world to illustrate effective practices and critical features of effective public health legislation. Advancing the right to health: the vital role of law is the result of a collaboration between the World Health Organisation, the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO), the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Washington D.C., USA, and Sydney Law School, University of Sydney. The Project Directors were: Professor Lawrence O. Gostin, Linda D. and Timothy J. O’Neill Professor of Global Health Law and University Professor, Georgetown University; Faculty Director, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University; Mr David Patterson, Senior Legal Expert – Health; Department of Research & Learning, International Development Law Organization; Professor Roger Magnusson, Professor of Health Law & Governance, Sydney Law School, University of Sydney; Mr Oscar Cabrera, Executive Director, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center; Ms Helena Nygren-Krug (2011–2013), Senior Advisor, Human Rights & Law, UNAIDS. The content and structure of the report reflect the consensus reached at the second of two international consultations in public health law that preceded the preparation of the report, hosted by WHO and IDLO in Cairo, Egypt, 26-28 April 2010. Part 1 introduces the human right to health and its role in guiding and evaluating law reform efforts, including efforts to achieve the goal of universal health coverage. Part 2 discusses the process of public health law reform. The law reform process refers to the practical steps involved in advancing the political goal of law reform, and the kinds of issues and obstacles that may be encountered along the way. Part 2 identifies some of the actors who may initiate or lead the public health law reform process, discusses principles of good governance during that process, and ways of building a consensus around the need for public health law reform. Part 3 turns from the process of reforming public health laws to the substance or content of those laws. It identifies a number of core areas of public health practice where regulation is essential in order to ensure that governments (at different levels) discharge their basic public health functions. Traditionally, these core areas of public health practice have included: the provision of clean water and sanitation, monitoring and surveillance of public health threats, the management of communicable diseases, and emergency powers. Building on these core public health functions, Part 3 goes on to consider a range of other public health priorities where law has a critical role to play. These priorities include tobacco control, access to essential medicines, the migration of health care workers, nutrition, maternal, reproductive and child health, and the role of law in advancing universal access to quality health services for all members of the population. The report includes many examples that illustrate the ways in which different countries have used law to protect the health of their populations in ways that are consistent with their human rights obligations. Countries vary widely in terms of their constitutional structure, size, history and political culture. For these reasons, the examples given are not intended to be prescriptive, but to provide useful comparisons for countries involved in the process of legislative review

Laws and Policies Affecting Volunteerism Since 2001

This Research Report represents an attempt to synthesize lessons learned over the last eight years in order to promote best practices and analyze obstacles and impediments that continue to block the development of volunteerism law and policy

Blueprint for a National Food Strategy: Evaluating the Potential for a National Food Strategy in the United States

Eating is a fundamental human need, and the food and agriculture system is vital to the American economy. Yet, our food system often works at cross-purposes, providing abundance while creating inefficiencies, and imposing unnecessary burdens on our economy, environment, and overall health. Many federal policies, laws, and regulations guide and structure our food system. However, these laws are fragmented and sometimes inconsistent, hindering food system improvements. To promote a healthy, economically viable, equitable, and resilient food system, the United States needs a coordinated federal approach to food and agricultural law and policy – that is, a national food strategy.A national food strategy has the potential to offer a comprehensive, coordinated path forward to improve the food system. Specifically, it could help leaders and members of the public understand how various aspects of food and agriculture connect and are interdependent. The process of developing a strategy could clarify where agencies and legislators currently undertake overlapping or conflicting activities. In addition, the process could provide opportunities for soliciting and incorporating public and stakeholder input. Ultimately, a national food strategy could harmonize law and policymaking around food and agriculture, providing a mechanism for legislators and agencies to establish, prioritize, and pursue common goals.This report provides a roadmap for the process to develop a national food strategy. Consequently, it focuses primarily on process rather than policy, because an effective process is a critical foundation to any coordinated strategy. In developing this blueprint, this report examines several models, which collectively may chart a path for such a strategy. First, several nations have developed national food strategies that may inform American efforts. These countries generally have food system challenges similar to those in the United States – e.g., maintaining or improving the success and resilience of the food and agricultural sectors, ensuring access to healthy food, promoting sustainable food production, and harmonizing the work of numerous agencies. Their strategies also illustrate a range of methods that can be used to engage agencies, diverse stakeholders, and the general public in strategy creation.The United States also serves as a model for this blueprint, as there are many domestic national strategies addressing a range of topics. This report explores select U.S. national strategies on diverse issues from the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic to environmental justice. These strategies serve to illustrate the legal and policy mechanisms employed by domestic efforts to address important and complex social issues in need of federal coordination. Regardless of the motivation, these domestic strategies share key components and characteristics, including utilizing an organizing authority, incorporating stakeholder and public engagement, enshrining goals in a written document, and ensuring periodic updating. These mechanisms demonstrate the capacity of the U.S. political system to address complex issues, and these key components provide a framework for the features that should structure a national food strategy.Presently, our food system struggles to serve the needs and interests of all Americans. The piecemeal policy and regulatory framework pertaining to food and agriculture also fails to accomplish needed improvements. Yet, the United States possesses the tools needed to address this vital system. A comprehensive and coordinated federal approach to law and policymaking is critical to an economically viable, resilient, equitable and food secure future for America. To that end, this report identifies four major principles to guide the creation of a national food strategy in the United States. Each principle describes the findings supporting it and includes a set of recommendations to lay the foundation for an effective comprehensive national strategy

Handling WTO disputes with the private sector: the triumphant Brazilian experience

Multiple scholarly works have argued that developing country Members of World Trade Organization (WTO) should enhance their dispute settlement capacity to successfully and cost effectively navigate the system of WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU). It is one thing to be a part of WTO agreements and know the WTO rules, and another to know how to use and take advantage of those agreements and rules in practice. The present investigation seeks to conduct a detailed examination of the latter with a specific focus on critically examining public private partnership (PPP) strategies that can enable developing countries to effectively utilize the provisions of WTO DSU. To achieve this purpose, the article examines how Brazil, one of the most active DSU users among developing countries, has strengthened its DSU participation by engaging its private stakeholders during the management of WTO disputes. The identification and evaluation of the PPP strategies employed by the government and industries in Brazil may prompt other developing countries to determine their individual approach towards PPP for the handling of WTO disputes

Regulatory impact assessment : a survey of selected developing and emerging economies

This article reports on an in depth survey of the practice of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) in 16 developing and emerging economies. It reveals that RIA is playing an increasing role in these countries: eight have introduced RIA in the last ten years; one has recently redesigned its existing RIA system; another has a longstanding RIA system in place. However, RIA still remains at an early stage of development in the majority of cases and six countries do not practice RIA.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rpmm202017-08-31hb201

Marco Civil vs.Copyright Reform: a comparative study

In 2009, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice partnered with the academic organisation Center for Technology and Society of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, to build a platform for a public consultation about a draft bill on Internet user rights - the “Internet Bill of Rights”, or Marco Civil da Internet. A year later, the Brazilian Ministry of Culture put in place a similar process of public consultation for improving the copyright legislation - Copyright Forum - Fórum de Direito Autoral. Both, the Marco Civil and the Copyright Reform public consultations, were innovative exercises in the use of ICTs for improving citizen participation in law making. After the public consultation and other institutional measures, the Marco Civil was finally approved by Congress in 2014. By contrast, the bill resulting from the public consultation on Copyright Reform was never taken to Congress. This case study compares and contrasts the processes followed by these two participatory exercises. It analyses on the role played by different agents engaged in ICT-mediated citizen engagement, and new information and communication structures and their uses. The study highlights that both draft bills faced three distinct group of challenges: infrastructure, an enabling discussion environment and responsiveness.DFIDUSAIDSidaOmidyar Networ

Mineral development for growth: developing a mineral policy framework and mining cadastre system for Pakistan

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2017Mineral resources can act as key for economic growth and have the potential to transform economies and societies. The extent to which such transformation takes place varies depending upon the method of their use. Pakistan is gifted with significant mineral resources that have the potential to lift its economy and bring prosperity to its citizens. For this to happen, Pakistan must formulate a mineral policy based on leading practices to attract mining investment and increase the sector contribution to GDP in the range of 3 – 5%. The fundamental objective of this research is to investigate the process of mineral policy development of Pakistan against leading developing minerals-based economies and to formulate a strategic fit mineral policy framework, keeping in mind its fragile political, socio-economic and security environment. Developing countries with mineral wealth must try to gain maximum benefit from their mineral resources. These are national assets and should be managed responsibly and not used unwisely. For the gap analysis between Pakistan‘s current mineral policy framework and leading developing countries, five criteria were formulated. Two basic principles were kept in mind with the choice of countries; first, a developing country like Pakistan should be selected; and second, at least two countries should be Islamic. Eight developing courtiers, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, India, South Africa, Kazakhstan and Turkey were selected for analysis. The key elements for the mineral sector of Pakistan are; Pakistan‘s mineral sector is lacking an enabling institutional framework for efficient access to mineral resources; it lacks an enabling fiscal and regulatory framework for mining to enhance the economic attractiveness of the sector; and the absence of a mining Cadastre System to secure mineral rights prevents security of tenure. Six stakeholders, Government and its implementation bodies; Mining industry; Local communities and their representatives; Law enforcing agencies (LEA's); Religious Monarchs; and Financial institutions were identified and their role defined in policy development framework. A new mineral Policy Framework was formulated based on seven key enablers, namely; institutional framework; stable political economy; legal framework; regulatory framework; fiscal framework; stakeholder participation; and sustainable development. A new organisational structure of the Ministry is proposed based on the generally accepted organisational structure of tiers, implementation and regulatory bodies. An implementation plan based on three building blocks was developed for implementation of the new Mineral Policy Framework. Implementation of an enabling Institutional framework and other key elements of mineral policy framework were suggested to be implemented through the constitution of a Mineral Development Advisory Committee (MDAC). A PakMining Cadastre system was suggested to be constituted under the new Ministry for secure minerals rights system. System design and the geometrical architecture of the PakMining Cadastre System were also suggested.MT 201

Mineral development for growth: developing a mineral policy framework and mining cadastre system for Pakistan

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2017Mineral resources can act as key for economic growth and have the potential to transform economies and societies. The extent to which such transformation takes place varies depending upon the method of their use. Pakistan is gifted with significant mineral resources that have the potential to lift its economy and bring prosperity to its citizens. For this to happen, Pakistan must formulate a mineral policy based on leading practices to attract mining investment and increase the sector contribution to GDP in the range of 3 – 5%. The fundamental objective of this research is to investigate the process of mineral policy development of Pakistan against leading developing minerals-based economies and to formulate a strategic fit mineral policy framework, keeping in mind its fragile political, socio-economic and security environment. Developing countries with mineral wealth must try to gain maximum benefit from their mineral resources. These are national assets and should be managed responsibly and not used unwisely. For the gap analysis between Pakistan‘s current mineral policy framework and leading developing countries, five criteria were formulated. Two basic principles were kept in mind with the choice of countries; first, a developing country like Pakistan should be selected; and second, at least two countries should be Islamic. Eight developing courtiers, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, India, South Africa, Kazakhstan and Turkey were selected for analysis. The key elements for the mineral sector of Pakistan are; Pakistan‘s mineral sector is lacking an enabling institutional framework for efficient access to mineral resources; it lacks an enabling fiscal and regulatory framework for mining to enhance the economic attractiveness of the sector; and the absence of a mining Cadastre System to secure mineral rights prevents security of tenure. Six stakeholders, Government and its implementation bodies; Mining industry; Local communities and their representatives; Law enforcing agencies (LEA's); Religious Monarchs; and Financial institutions were identified and their role defined in policy development framework. A new mineral Policy Framework was formulated based on seven key enablers, namely; institutional framework; stable political economy; legal framework; regulatory framework; fiscal framework; stakeholder participation; and sustainable development. A new organisational structure of the Ministry is proposed based on the generally accepted organisational structure of tiers, implementation and regulatory bodies. An implementation plan based on three building blocks was developed for implementation of the new Mineral Policy Framework. Implementation of an enabling Institutional framework and other key elements of mineral policy framework were suggested to be implemented through the constitution of a Mineral Development Advisory Committee (MDAC). A PakMining Cadastre system was suggested to be constituted under the new Ministry for secure minerals rights system. System design and the geometrical architecture of the PakMining Cadastre System were also suggested.MT 201