Articles

Domestic laws of different countries adopt varying approaches
on how much power of adjudication can be vested in tribunals
which function outside the States’ monopoly in administering
justice. This is reflected in varying positions adopted in
different jurisdictions on the permissibility and scope of
intervention by domestic judiciary in international commercial
arbitrations. Indian judiciary has taken an expansionary
stance in respect of its power of intervention. This article
analyses this expansionary outlook of the Indian judiciary in
the context of interim measures and argues that the same poses
a hindrance to the growth of the institution of international
commercial arbitration in India.

The ever increasing presence of multi national enterprises (hereinafter MNEs) in India coupled with the status of software as a focal area for increase of India’s exports, makes the Morgan Stanley decision by the Supreme Court extremely significant. The decision holds far reaching tax implications for outsourcing activities of foreign companies as they are no more required to pay tax on their global income earned from business related to their outsourcing arms/units if these are done at existing market prices. Overall it is a very positive ruling for the business process outsourcing (hereinafter BPO) sector. But application of the arms length standard to negate further attribution of profits to a permanent establishment of a foreign enterprise extends the already complex and difficult transfer- pricing rules to the legally and factually distinct situation of the branch, or even to a dependent agent permanent establishment (hereinafter PE).

A close look at tax systems demonstrates how fiscal policies affect pat- terns of marriage, childbearing, work and education. Coupled with social norms and biases, the fiscal system can be seen to exercise coercive force, entrenching social life patterns in an endless feedback loop. The liberal feminist perspective throws light on how, amongst other factors, a regressive taxation system, many of the special tax deductions, and even tax benefits for savings, benefit women less than men. We examine how the seemingly gender-neutral provisions of Indian taxation law fulfil the aims of substantive equality, and to what extent they further the existing stereotypes favouring one-breadwinner families.

Matrimonial jurisprudence, being the main theme of the volumes, has been well explored…

In the contemporary world human rights has emerged as one of the most significant and powerful discourses. Notwithstanding the fact that human rights violations are not uncommon, states are compelled than ever before to adhere to international human rights standards. While human rights are primarily designed to give protection against the state, in today’s globalised world, it is important to develop human rights norms and standards to protect individuals against powerful non-state actors as well. It is in this context that Human Rights and the Private Sphere: A Comparative Analysis edited by Dawn Oliver and Jorg Fedtke is an important addition to the newly emergent literature on the applicability of human rights norms for non-state actors or the private sphere. Analysing the interplay between constitutional protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the private law, the book examines fifteen jurisdictions around the world that protect civil and political rights against private bodies…

While there has been a spate of public outcry against rampant privacy violations on social networking sites in the recent past, the current law of privacy appears to be ill-equipped to reinvent itself in the internet age and rise to the emerging challenge of affording adequate protection to personal information online. This article seeks to identify the various in- stances of privacy abuse that have become common on social networks and explores various social and legal solutions available for redressing the same through users’ protest, industry self-regulation and actions based in the law of tort, contract and data protection. In light of the limited nature of protection afforded by these alternatives, it stresses on the need to broaden and redefine the theoretical paradigm within which the right to privacy has traditionally been viewed in order to adapt it to the new avatar of social communication.

The statistics would be shocking enough even if death were not involved. Large numbers of prisoners have inadequate legal counsel and, in later stages of the appellate process, no counsel at all. Death sentences, in the aggregate, continue to be disproportionately imposed on persons of limited economic means and members of disadvantaged minority communities…

There are many reasons why one should peruse a judge’s writing. For one it is an excellent source for gauging a judge’s thought process – the way a judge perceives an issue, his biases, his manner of comprehension, etc. Secondly, for insider information that would otherwise be hard to come along, and finally, how things had unfolded during the hearing of important judgments that the judge was involved with. Such information is almost impossible to determine from the usual carefully constructed judgments that are delivered from the bench…

The unusual, yet perceptive interface between law and love connection sets the tone of the journey through Jharkhand. This is a journey not just of the formation of the state but a contested terrain of contestation, struggles and transformations that is what is stated in the introductory chapter by Nandini Sundar Laws, Policies and Practices in Jharkhand. Discussing the creation and modification of adivasi identity and its’ direct connection to law, Sundar metaphorically and convincingly links the legal system normatively and relationally with love—both connected with power and hegemony, both being spaces of protection and also repression. The sociological approach in this book reminds us of similar interdisciplinary approaches used by Vasudha Dhagamwar (Role and Image of Law in India: A Tribal Experience, 2006), Nivedita Menon (Recovering Subversion: Feminist Politics Beyond the Law, 2004) or Radhika Singha, (A Despotism of Law: Crime and Justice in Early Colonial India, 1998). The book is a case study of Jharkhand, a place historically rich in natural resources, a newly formed state with a vision for industrial development, a dwelling for Mundas, Santhals among many other tribal communities negotiating through resistances, betrayals and expectations from the colonial and the postcolonial state. The book can be divided into discussions on land, forest, water, mining and self governance. The adivasi slogan of jal-jangal-aur jameen seems to be reflected in the way in which the chapters are arranged…

Ahmad Siddique’s Criminology & Penology is a successful book on the subject, used extensively by the law students in India. The author has attempted to update and has successfully incorporated the emerging changes, thus providing a new look to the earlier treatise. The book under review is a walk through the subject ‘criminology and penology’ and is concerned with the nature, causes, prevention, punishment, administration etc., of crime. It largely focuses on the definitions of crime with reference to criminal law. The book is largely about criminology from a legal scholar’s perspective. As a user guide and manual for the law students, the book is designed as a route map to provide an overview of criminology and penology. The legal interfacing of criminological thinking is seldom attempted by legal scholars, though most of the end users are fraternities from criminal justice administration. The book originally authored by Ahmed Siddique has been given scholarly attention by SMA Quadri in its current form…