The constitution of the conflict of laws

Private international law doctrines are often portrayed as natural, largely immutable, boundaries on local public agency in a transnational private world. Challenging this problematic conception requires a reimagining of the field, not only as a species of public law or an instrument of governance, but as a constitutional phenomenon. This paper investigates what such a ‘constitution of the conflict of laws’ could look like. Two features are given special emphasis. First: the idea of the conflict of laws as an independent source of constitutionalist normativity, rather than as a mere passive receptacle for constraints imposed by classical, liberal, constitutional law. And second: the possibility of a local, ‘outward-looking’ form of conflicts constitutionalism to complement more familiar, inwardly focused, federalist conceptions

Collusive Bidding in Brazilian Infrastructure Projects

Allegations of corruption have resulted in an investigation of Brazil’s national ‘oil’ company prior to an incumbent Brazilian president disputing their re-election. The investigation has examined allegations that several directors of the ‘state’-owned company received bribes from construction companies and that the funds were used to support the parties of the governing coalition. Using a case study, this paper presents the approach adopted by the Brazilian Federal Police to determine if collusion had occurred. The bidding patterns of construction firms in 22 infrastructure projects suggested to the police that collusion occurred. Considering these circumstances, 561 bids for 77 projects were examined. Investigators obtained evidence that indicates that a collusive behaviour regarding procurement at specific construction firms (the League of 16) had taken place. The conclusions of the research provide insights into the intendment of the League of 16’s bidding patterns with an example of the ‘real’ cost of cartelisation that was experienced in an infrastructure project