This volume explores the potentially transformative role of effective laws and legal institutions in providing people with more opportunity that is both inclusive and equitable.

The newly adopted post-2015 development agenda is centered on 17 sustainable development goals to be reached by 2030. This volume of the World Bank Legal Review looks at how law and justice systems can support the financing and implementation of these goals, including the role of the rule of law and economic and social rights. The contributors, including legal scholars, development practitioners, and financial experts, analyze the goals, explore ways in which they can be achieved, and examine ways that recent relevant law and justice programs have worked. A wide array of topics are covered, from the legal aspects of collecting and monitoring vital data, to improving legal identity programs, to creating innovative health care regulation, to legal and judicial reform, to providing private sector†“financing of public education projects to the provision of global public goods. Additionally, a special section on Europe looks at financial crisis management, enforcement of court decisions and the workings of the European Court of Justice. The opportunities and challenges of the 2030 agenda are many. This volume looks at both from multiple perspectives, demonstrating how sustainable development can go forward in a way in which everyone benefits.

Voice, social contract, and accountability are discussed from the point of view of the function of law, justice, judicial systems and related areas from human rights to government policy, urban development, resource management, gender, social rights, economic reforms, governance, sustainable development and anti-corruption.

This book focuses on the legal challenges and opportunities for International Financial Institutions in the post-crisis world. It includes contributions from academics, practitioners and Bank staff. The contributions cover a broad array of issues, included governance reform and constitutional framework of IFIs, privileges and immunities, responsibility of international organizations, issues related to fragile and conflict-affected states, climate finance, and the recent financial crisis. The book is organized in three main areas, namely (i) Law of International Organizations: Issues Confronting IFIs; (ii) Legal Obligations and Institutions of Developing Countries: Rethinking Approaches of IFIs; and (iii) International Finance and the Challenges of Regulatory Governance.

The World Bank Legal Review is a publication for policy makers and their advisers, attorneys, and other professionals engaged in the field of international development. It offers a combination of legal scholarship, lessons from experience, legal developments, and recent research on the many ways in which the application of the law and the improvement of justice systems promote poverty reduction, economic development, and the rule of law. In keeping with the theme of the World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development, and following the success of the World Bank Group’s Legal Forum on “Law, Equity, and Development” in December 2005, volume 2 of The World Bank Legal Review focuses on issues of equity and development. The volume draws together some of the key ideas of the Legal Forum, including articles by many of its distinguished participants, and explores the role of equity in the development process, highlighting how legal and regulatory frameworks and equitable justice systems can do much to level the playing field in the political, economic, and sociocultural domains, as well as how they can reinforce existing inequalities. Consistent with the interdisciplinary nature of this endeavour, Law, Equity and Development contains work by academics and practitioners in law, criminal justice, economics, human rights, social development, cultural studies, and anthropology.

Sustainable poverty reduction and equitable economic development rest on the firm foundation of the rule of law. On the domestic front, countries must engage in legal reform in order to maximize the benefits of globalization, increase efficiency in business transactions, improve the way governments deliver essential services, and facilitate access to an effective justice system. Internationally, new rules are needed to face global threats such as money laundering, destabilizing capital movements, communicable diseases, and attacks on the environment. The first volume of The World Bank Legal Review: Law and Justice for Development is the result of the World Bank’s unique experience with legal and judicial innovations and research around the world. It will be of interest to policy makers, attorneys, international development professionals, and anyone interested in the role of law and justice in the multi-faceted struggle to relieve poverty and improve living standards in developing countries.

In Sanctions Regimes of Multilateral Development Banks: What Process is Due, Jelena Madir examines the type of due process rights and the level of transparency that should characterise sanctions regimes of multilateral development banks.

With more than 100 right to information (RTI) laws—also called freedom of information or access to information laws—now in place globally, the groundwork has been laid to advance more transparent, accountable, and inclusive governance as a pathway to poverty reduction and economic development. This guide explores the historical development of RTI laws, the factors that drive passage and effective implementation of these laws, the operation of the laws, and the impact of these laws in different country contexts and sectors, as well as the challenges of measuring the contribution of RTI laws to development outcomes. Public Access to Information for Development: A Guide to the Effective Implementation of Right to Information Laws is based on two years of research studying how RTI has been implemented in countries in different regions and with varying income levels. The research has aimed to develop a theoretical framework by which to identify the drivers of effective implementation of RTI laws and to support measurement of effective implementation; the outcomes are discussed. This guide grapples with questions such as the following: • What does it mean to have effectively implemented an RTI law? • What aspects of a law have to be operational before it can be said to have been effectively implemented? • What other factors are most critical to the effective implementation of RTI laws? • Why does effective implementation of RTI matter?

This book focuses on the legal challenges and opportunities for International Financial Institutions in the post-crisis world. It includes contributions from academics, practitioners and Bank staff. The contributions cover a broad array of issues, included governance reform and constitutional framework of IFIs, privileges and immunities, responsibility of international organizations, issues related to fragile and conflict-affected states, climate finance, and the recent financial crisis. The book is organized in three main areas, namely (i) Law of International Organizations: Issues Confronting IFIs; (ii) Legal Obligations and Institutions of Developing Countries: Rethinking Approaches of IFIs; and (iii) International Finance and the Challenges of Regulatory Governance.