The Rule of Law in the Age of Statutes

Abstract

<jats:p> This article provides an empirical analysis of the legislative practice of the Australian Parliament and considers its implications for the rule of law. Federal legislation is so voluminous, complex and changeable that it risks diminishing the rule of law, in the sense that it makes the law difficult to know. This could be potentially ameliorated by Australian courts embracing Chevron-style deference, or an administrative law doctrine of legitimate expectations, but neither option is ideal. More broadly, the article comments upon the way in which the rule of law and legislation should be understood in a modern administrative state. </jats:p>

The impact of investment treaties on domestic governance in developing countries

“…First, the argument that investment treaties promote additional foreign investment in developing countries, to the benefit of their economies (e.g., Dolzer & Stevens, 1995; Markusen, 2001; Poulsen, 2020; Snyder, 1961). Second, the argument that investment treaties improve domestic governance in developing countries, an argument that has been formulated variously by reference to the domestic “investment climate” (American Embassy Kinshasa, quoted in St John, 2018, p. 219) or the domestic instantiation of “the rule of law” (Crawford, 2003, p. 8). Third, the argument that investment treaties depoliticize foreign investment disputes, in the sense of providing for resolution of investment disputes through adjudicative legal processes “insulated from political and diplomatic relations between states” ( Corn Products v. Mexico , para.…”