Business Representation in the UK Since 1979: the Case of Trade Associations

The article explores the impact of Conservative governments since 1979 on business representation. It concentrates on the trade association—the most common form of business organization in the UK but one which has been largely neglected in the discussion of business representation. The results of a major survey of trade associations conducted in 1994 are reported and their significance assessed in the light of three general propositions about the direction of business representation since 1979.     

Identifying Successor Corporations Liable under CERCLA and Pursuing Insurance Coverage for That Liability

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) imposes liability well beyond general corporate successor rules. A company can allocate liability to other Potentially Responsible Parties as more culpable, taking advantage of CERCLA's joint and several liability. Often a source of recovery must be teased from a complex corporate history somehow connected to the site. This article examines the basis for attributing environmental liability to entities within a corporate history, before addressing how even a bankrupt or dissolved target may still have insurance that can be tapped. Similarly, CERCLA's strict liability enables recovery from insurance with some connection to either the target's or the company's corporate history, notwithstanding insurers' non-assignment arguments.     

State Legislative Solutions to Silica/Mixed-Dust Claims

Ohio has enacted comprehensive silica and mixed-dust legislation in an effort to prevent these claims from becoming the latest mass tort. The legislation attempts to eliminate the use of experts who spend the majority of their professional time providing medical and exposure consulting services to the plaintiffs' bar. By avoiding the worst abuses of the asbestos tort system and requiring individuals to establish certain minimum medical criteria before pursuing a personal injury claim, the Ohio legislation serves as a model for comprehensive state and federal tort reform legislation.     

Lingering environmental pessimism and the role of government in Hong Kong

Based on data from two opinion surveys conducted in 2000 and 2008, this study shows that Hong Kong people have been consistently highly aware of the seriousness of different environmental problems and relatively pessimistic about the future resolution of these problems. Such pessimism is arguably related to their lack of confidence in the government's enforcement of environmental protection. Through an analysis of the environmental policy‐making and enforcement agency and three selected enforcement cases, the study further finds that the people's lack of confidence can be traced to the government's failure to bring about a comprehensive, integrated, far‐sighted environmental strategy with sophisticated institutional support and detailed enforcement mechanisms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is consent required to use registered trade marks on model replica cars?

A car manufacturer that is a proprietor of a trade mark registeredfor toys cannot prohibit use by a third party of its trade markon model replica cars unless such use affects the functionsof the trade mark or takes unfair advantage of, or is detrimentalto, the distinctive character or repute of the mark.     

Entrenching Bills of Rights

The entrenchment of a bill of rights, and the consequent removalof the matters covered in the bill from the domain of the legislature,is commonly thought to constitute a transfer of power from thelegislature to the courts. Yet the simple answer to this thoughtis that, strictly speaking, no such transfer takes place, forin acquiring power to determine the content of a bill of rightsthe courts do not acquire the power to legislate that the billdenies to the legislature. The more complex response is thatwhat the courts acquire when a bill of rights is entrenchedis the power to set a constitutional agenda, a power that thelegislature may never have had and so has not necessarily lost,a power the political significance of which depends on the formand content of what is entrenched and the value and characterof the power it leaves in the hands of the legislature. In particular,the entrenchment of a project of governance (as typified bythe positive duties conventionally associated with economicand social rights) raises concerns about the power exercisedby courts that are not raised by the entrenchment of a projectof non-governance (as typified by the negative duties conventionallyassociated with civil and political liberties). Non-governancemay be objectionable, but not because the courts secure it.Governance, however, may be objectionable just because the courtssecure it.