Global Health Governance between Hard and Soft Law: The Challenges of Pharmaceutical Companies Social Responsibility

The debate on the relationship between business and human rights has gradually grown in institutional and doctrinal terms, as well as the recognition that mechanisms to promote the social responsibility of these private actors are lacking. In this context, this study investigates the limits and possibilities of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of transnational pharmaceutical companies for the unequal access to essential medicines in the global South, a reality aggravated in pandemic contexts such as HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. To this end, it discusses the actors, factors and processes of global health governance and debates some CSR strategies in the light of those elements. Methodologically, the study makes a review of the specialized literature, document and primary data analysis and conducts a normative approach of the topic. © 2023 Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. All rights reserved.

Respecting older people's rights and freedoms during a health crisis

The major restrictions on rights and freedoms imposed by the management of the COVID-19 crisis have caused significant psychological, and sometimes physical, suffering for older people with decreased independence living in collective housing. Without calling into question the decisions made by these housing establishments, which for the most part were motivated by a desire and need to protect their residents, the aim of this contribution is to question the processes that led—and still lead—to decisions restricting freedom, the proportionality of which may be questioned. In fact, those managing such establishments have had to make decisions in an ambiguous legal and social context, marked by the proliferation of non-decisive guidelines and recommendations (soft law acts), which has led to practical difficulties in the implementation of health standards within the establishments and has had a considerable impact on residents' individual freedoms. Some of these restrictions could be described as forms of abuse. © 2022 Fondation Nationale de Gerontologie. All rights reserved. Les restrictions majeures de droits et libertés imposées par la gestion de la crise épidémique de Covid-19 ont engendré des souffrances psychiques et parfois physiques importantes pour les personnes âgées vivant en établissement d'hébergement pour personnes dépendantes. Sans remettre en cause les décisions des établissements qui, pour une large majorité, ont été motivées par la volonté et la nécessité de protéger leurs résidents, l'objectif de cette contribution vise à interroger les processus qui ont conduit – et conduisent encore – à des décisions restrictives de liberté dont la proportionnalité peut être discutée. En effet, les directions d'établissement ont dû prendre des décisions dans un contexte juridique et social ambigu, marqué par le foisonnement d'orientations et de recommandations non décisoires (actes de droit souple), ce qui a engendré des difficultés pratiques dans la mise en œuvre des normes sanitaires au sein des établissements et a eu un impact considérable sur l'exercice des libertés individuelles des résidents dont certaines restrictions pourraient être qualifiées de forme de maltraitance. © 2022 Fondation Nationale de Gerontologie. All rights reserved.

The Legitimacy of EU Soft Law: Still Nothing New or a Turn for The Worse in the Field of State Aid?

This article takes issue with the State aid soft law and its questionable legitimacy, trans-parency and compatibility with the rule of law. Although critics in this regard are almost ‘traditional', the practice of adoption of EU soft law does not imply a conclusion that some-thing is changing in this regard. What is more, the dimensions of the current pandemic seem to emphasize them. Recognising advantages of soft law and the existence of wide discretion of the European Commission this paper looks at the current state of affairs regarding EU soft law in EU State aid regime (and briefly also other EU policies), determines the gap between EU soft law and the rule of law and presupposes solutions that would improve EU soft law's quality in the European integration. © 2022, Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. All rights reserved.

Economic policies versus Covid-19 from the perspective of international law

The sanitary crisis has brought greater effect to the world economy than the Great Recession;Covid-19 disrupts all sectors of the world economy and all regions of the orb, restricts movement and promotes social distancing. As a result, global value chains are affected, causing global trade to fall by up to 32% or more by the end of 2020, and global economic contraction. This implies that different international organizations with experience in the development of economic policy, fiscal and monetary measurements have expressed a series of recommendations for the national governments in order to resist, in an immediate way, the negative effects derived for Covid-19. In this paper, it is presented the economic impact of the health crisis on the world, and the recommendations and/or guidelines of the international organizations to promote the rapid recovery of the world economy, in all areas, which point to what taxation should look like in relation to Covid-19. Finally, within the framework of what it has been possible to predict, the sanitary crisis brings to collation the strengthening of a new world arranging characterized by the harmonization of fiscal politics expressed by the global institutions. That is, a legal order nurtured by standards known as soft law and led by global organisms. © 2022 Authors. All rights reserved.

INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE FIGHT AGAINST AGEISM AND FOR THE PROTECTION OF ELDERLY: TAKING STOCK OF THE SITUATION AFTER COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The ageism that harms older persons manifests itself in many ways in our societies and needs to be combated more effectively through international law. The existing mechanisms at the international and regional levels and developments in the field of soft law are analyzed here under the premise that it is necessary to continue working to strengthen and improve them, in order to continue preparing the ground for the adoption of a specific convention of universal scope on the rights of older persons. The COVID 19 pandemic has revealed, in a terrible way. the deficiencies in the models of assistance and care for the older persons and the gaps in the international mechanisms for the protection of human rights. © 2022 by the Author(s).

Effetti del lockdown sui contratti di diritto privato. Un dialogo tra esperienze giuridiche

The recent emergency measures issued by the public authorities, because of the spread of the pandemic from Covid-19, have caused significant repercussions in the execution of a multiplicity of contracts stipulated on the date of “lockdown”. Where some regulatory frameworks had previously reformed the law of contracts, contemplating useful tools in case of contingencies, borrowing the teaching from the experience of international trade (soft law), the Italian state found itself “unprepared” and with a bill which is currently on stand-by. The need for a review of the legal segment afflicted by critical issues, in a modern and functional key and in the light of the ius alii loci (English, French and German), appears to be urgent at present. © 2022, Societa Editoriale Federalismi s.r.l.. All rights reserved.

From CSR to HRDD: An Overview of Approaches, Initiatives and Measures Adopted by the European Union

In recent years, the European Union has done much to promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Through CSR, enterprises can contribute to the EU objectives of sustainable development and a competitive social market economy. For these purposes, the EU has used a smart mix of voluntary and mandatory actions. The paper provides an overview of these actions, starting from the 2001 Green Paper of the Commission. In particular, it will focus on the renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for CSR, which combines horizontal approaches to promote CSR with more specific strategies for individual sectors or policy areas. This document is a significant turning point because it offers a modern understanding of CSR as “the responsibility of enterprises for their impact on society”. This new definition implies its possible configuration as a set of rules able to assume legal value and to produce legal effects. Thus, the paper analyzes the most significant actions and instruments adopted by the EU for the implementation of the 2011-14 strategy and the new notion of CSR. This analysis will make it possible to grasp the gradual evolution of the EU approach to CSR towards mandatory instruments, such as directives and regulations. In the most recent period, the EU approach seems more strongly oriented towards the adoption of mandatory due diligence legislation to enforce companies' socially responsible behavior in the post-Covid context. In conclusion, the paper addresses the role played by the EU in supporting and, where necessary, enforcing companies to conduct their business responsibly. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022.

Rhetoric and Argumentation in the Pandemic Legislation: The Italian Case

This chapter examines the argumentative and rhetorical structure of the regulatory techniques used to deal with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Italy. The first part of the chapter aims to clarify the connection between law and rhetoric, in order to provide a framework in which the legislative activity has operated. After analyzing critical aspects of the chosen regulatory tools, we will focus on the three most innovative elements of the pandemic legislation: the frequent use of images, the sporadic presence of sanctions, and the relevant role of experts. In the second part, an analysis of the fundamental traits of visual argumentation will be presented to highlight the fact that the use of images, during the pandemic period, has become a political-normative technique, which is never a neutral tool, but is always subject to interpretation and endowed with a notable rhetorical value. Given the sporadic presence of sanctions, the second section will analyze the argumentative strengthening applied by the legislator in order to promote the obedience of the recipients of the measures. Finally, we will examine the involvement of experts in the justificatory activity of the legislator, and the need for them to acquire legislative legitimacy through a rhetorical-argumentative relationship with citizens. © 2022, The Author(s).