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Papers by Abhik Majumdar
St Xaviers University Kolkata Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2023
Fundamental Rights, the Elderly, and the Discourse of Dignity
Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 2019
Purpose The past few decades have seen a gradual convergence in corporate governance norms the wo... more Purpose The past few decades have seen a gradual convergence in corporate governance norms the world over, entailing a discernible shift towards shareholder primacy models. It holds particularly true of developing countries, many of which have steadily amended corporate governance norms to enhance the scope of shareholder rights. This is usually justified through the rationale that increasing protection for foreign investors and shareholders would mean greater investment in capital market and overall financial market development. In India, the shift coincides with a series of fundamental economic and financial policy reforms initiated in the 1990s: collectively and loosely referred to as “liberalisation”, this process marks a paradigm-shift from a tightly controlled welfare economy to one considerably more laissez-faire in its orientation. A fallout of which was that the need to attract and sustain foreign investments acquired an unprecedented significance. The purpose of this paper...
South Asian History and Culture, 2019
Comparative law is a fecund field of study capable of yielding insights not obtainable otherwise.... more Comparative law is a fecund field of study capable of yielding insights not obtainable otherwise. It comprises a vital tool not only for academics but also for law and policymakers. It also happens to be a delicate undertaking, and prone to several pitfalls if not approached carefully. Given the shared legal and political antecedents of South Asian nations, a South Asia-specific comparative law discourse of at least some measure of robustness ought to have emerged by now. This expectation lies largely frustrated. Scholarly engagement with comparative law is both sporadic and unsatisfactory, the latter attributable to recurring shortcomings such as a tendency to cherry-pick. Such desultoriness is consequential, given comparative law's capacity to provide inputs to states' lawmaking and policymaking projects. In this paper, I explore a littleknown instance, one that involves an initiative of the Indian state of Kerala to reform and codify certain aspects of Islamic personal law. It borrowed considerably from the reform initiatives of Pakistan and Bangladesh but, unusually, chose not to acknowledge this fact. It also deviated from the latter in several crucial respects. And in deviating, it also succeeded in undermining its own stated objectives. In this paper, I examine the two initiatives; their similarities and differences; and the implications that these similarities and differences carry, particularly in the light of avoiding pitfalls while doing comparative law.
Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2017
The 'deontic orientation' thesis-that is, the claim that ancient Indian legal theory is orientate... more The 'deontic orientation' thesis-that is, the claim that ancient Indian legal theory is orientated or focussed towards duty to the exclusion of other jural operators-features prominently in the discourse of ancient Indian law. In contrast, contemporary legal systems tend to employ a variety of other jural operators also, including right, liberty, power, and so forth. Theorists like Wesley Hohfeld even assert that these operators are elemental, and hence not reducible to other operators. This disparity may be addressed from various evaluational and conceptual standpoints. I address instead a more basic question: is the disparity real? Does a scrutiny of legal treatises factually validate the deontic orientation thesis? I contend that the thesis is factually not sustainable, and that legal treatises of ancient India do display a sophisticated conception of non-deontic operators. To this end I undertake a scrutiny of Kauṫilya's Arthaśāstra, to determine the treatise's use of non-deontic operators, and whether it treats them as entities in their own standing as opposed to derivatives or outcomes of the deontic.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016
The ‘deontic orientation’ thesis – that is, the claim that ancient Indian legal theory is orienta... more The ‘deontic orientation’ thesis – that is, the claim that ancient Indian legal theory is orientated or focussed towards duty to the exclusion of other jural operators – features prominently in the discourse of ancient Indian law. In contrast, contemporary legal systems tend to employ a variety of other jural operators also, including right, liberty, power, and so forth. Theorists like Wesley Hohfeld even assert that these operators are elemental, and hence not reducible to other operators. This disparity may be addressed from various evaluational and conceptual standpoints. I address instead a more basic question: is the disparity real? Does a scrutiny of legal treatises factually validate the deontic orientation thesis? I contend that the thesis is factually not sustainable, and that legal treatises of ancient India do display a sophisticated conception of non-deontic operators. To this end I undertake a scrutiny of Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra, to determine the treatise’s use of non-deontic parameters, and whether it treats them as entities in their own standing as opposed to derivatives or outcomes of the deontic.
Australian Journal of Asian Law, 2004
The legality of suicide has radically gained in significance in recent years. Changing attitudes ... more The legality of suicide has radically gained in significance in recent years. Changing attitudes towards suicide, and the legal legitimacy they have received, exemplify how legal systems have sought to reconcile traditional legal paradigms with changing values. This is especially true of nations that have only recently gained independence. Most such nations continue to rely on laws and legal systems born of their colonial past. Some, and India is a case in point, are presently striving to move beyond their colonial underpinnings. How such systems interpret the right to die provide us with unparalleled insights into this process. This is because colonial legal paradigms treated suicide as immoral or sinful. Consequently, any recognition given to the right to die is necessarily in counterpoint to colonial doctrines. This article examines how Indian courts have construed this right to die. It focuses on the strategies adopted in the course of this construction, as well as its larger consequences.
Book Chapters by Abhik Majumdar
Dispute Settlement at the WTO, 2010
List of tables vii List of figures viii List of contributors ix Preface: The ICTSD dispute settle... more List of tables vii List of figures viii List of contributors ix Preface: The ICTSD dispute settlement project xi gregory c. shaffer and ricardo melé ndez-ortiz 2. Argentina's experience with WTO dispute settlement: development of national capacity and the use of in-house lawyers 105 josé l. pé rez gabilondo part ii Case Studies from Asia 135 3. China's experience in utilizing the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism 137 han liyu and henry gao 4. Learning from the India-EC GSP dispute: the issues and the process 174 biswajit dhar and abhik majumdar v 4 Learning from the India-EC GSP dispute: the issues and the process biswajit dhar and abhik majumdar* learning from the india-ec gsp dispute
Applied Ethics and Human Rights
Book Reviews by Abhik Majumdar
KIIT Journal of Law and Society, 2016
St Xaviers University Kolkata Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2023
Fundamental Rights, the Elderly, and the Discourse of Dignity
Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 2019
Purpose The past few decades have seen a gradual convergence in corporate governance norms the wo... more Purpose The past few decades have seen a gradual convergence in corporate governance norms the world over, entailing a discernible shift towards shareholder primacy models. It holds particularly true of developing countries, many of which have steadily amended corporate governance norms to enhance the scope of shareholder rights. This is usually justified through the rationale that increasing protection for foreign investors and shareholders would mean greater investment in capital market and overall financial market development. In India, the shift coincides with a series of fundamental economic and financial policy reforms initiated in the 1990s: collectively and loosely referred to as “liberalisation”, this process marks a paradigm-shift from a tightly controlled welfare economy to one considerably more laissez-faire in its orientation. A fallout of which was that the need to attract and sustain foreign investments acquired an unprecedented significance. The purpose of this paper...
South Asian History and Culture, 2019
Comparative law is a fecund field of study capable of yielding insights not obtainable otherwise.... more Comparative law is a fecund field of study capable of yielding insights not obtainable otherwise. It comprises a vital tool not only for academics but also for law and policymakers. It also happens to be a delicate undertaking, and prone to several pitfalls if not approached carefully. Given the shared legal and political antecedents of South Asian nations, a South Asia-specific comparative law discourse of at least some measure of robustness ought to have emerged by now. This expectation lies largely frustrated. Scholarly engagement with comparative law is both sporadic and unsatisfactory, the latter attributable to recurring shortcomings such as a tendency to cherry-pick. Such desultoriness is consequential, given comparative law's capacity to provide inputs to states' lawmaking and policymaking projects. In this paper, I explore a littleknown instance, one that involves an initiative of the Indian state of Kerala to reform and codify certain aspects of Islamic personal law. It borrowed considerably from the reform initiatives of Pakistan and Bangladesh but, unusually, chose not to acknowledge this fact. It also deviated from the latter in several crucial respects. And in deviating, it also succeeded in undermining its own stated objectives. In this paper, I examine the two initiatives; their similarities and differences; and the implications that these similarities and differences carry, particularly in the light of avoiding pitfalls while doing comparative law.
Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2017
The 'deontic orientation' thesis-that is, the claim that ancient Indian legal theory is orientate... more The 'deontic orientation' thesis-that is, the claim that ancient Indian legal theory is orientated or focussed towards duty to the exclusion of other jural operators-features prominently in the discourse of ancient Indian law. In contrast, contemporary legal systems tend to employ a variety of other jural operators also, including right, liberty, power, and so forth. Theorists like Wesley Hohfeld even assert that these operators are elemental, and hence not reducible to other operators. This disparity may be addressed from various evaluational and conceptual standpoints. I address instead a more basic question: is the disparity real? Does a scrutiny of legal treatises factually validate the deontic orientation thesis? I contend that the thesis is factually not sustainable, and that legal treatises of ancient India do display a sophisticated conception of non-deontic operators. To this end I undertake a scrutiny of Kauṫilya's Arthaśāstra, to determine the treatise's use of non-deontic operators, and whether it treats them as entities in their own standing as opposed to derivatives or outcomes of the deontic.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016
The ‘deontic orientation’ thesis – that is, the claim that ancient Indian legal theory is orienta... more The ‘deontic orientation’ thesis – that is, the claim that ancient Indian legal theory is orientated or focussed towards duty to the exclusion of other jural operators – features prominently in the discourse of ancient Indian law. In contrast, contemporary legal systems tend to employ a variety of other jural operators also, including right, liberty, power, and so forth. Theorists like Wesley Hohfeld even assert that these operators are elemental, and hence not reducible to other operators. This disparity may be addressed from various evaluational and conceptual standpoints. I address instead a more basic question: is the disparity real? Does a scrutiny of legal treatises factually validate the deontic orientation thesis? I contend that the thesis is factually not sustainable, and that legal treatises of ancient India do display a sophisticated conception of non-deontic operators. To this end I undertake a scrutiny of Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra, to determine the treatise’s use of non-deontic parameters, and whether it treats them as entities in their own standing as opposed to derivatives or outcomes of the deontic.
Australian Journal of Asian Law, 2004
The legality of suicide has radically gained in significance in recent years. Changing attitudes ... more The legality of suicide has radically gained in significance in recent years. Changing attitudes towards suicide, and the legal legitimacy they have received, exemplify how legal systems have sought to reconcile traditional legal paradigms with changing values. This is especially true of nations that have only recently gained independence. Most such nations continue to rely on laws and legal systems born of their colonial past. Some, and India is a case in point, are presently striving to move beyond their colonial underpinnings. How such systems interpret the right to die provide us with unparalleled insights into this process. This is because colonial legal paradigms treated suicide as immoral or sinful. Consequently, any recognition given to the right to die is necessarily in counterpoint to colonial doctrines. This article examines how Indian courts have construed this right to die. It focuses on the strategies adopted in the course of this construction, as well as its larger consequences.
Dispute Settlement at the WTO, 2010
List of tables vii List of figures viii List of contributors ix Preface: The ICTSD dispute settle... more List of tables vii List of figures viii List of contributors ix Preface: The ICTSD dispute settlement project xi gregory c. shaffer and ricardo melé ndez-ortiz 2. Argentina's experience with WTO dispute settlement: development of national capacity and the use of in-house lawyers 105 josé l. pé rez gabilondo part ii Case Studies from Asia 135 3. China's experience in utilizing the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism 137 han liyu and henry gao 4. Learning from the India-EC GSP dispute: the issues and the process 174 biswajit dhar and abhik majumdar v 4 Learning from the India-EC GSP dispute: the issues and the process biswajit dhar and abhik majumdar* learning from the india-ec gsp dispute
Applied Ethics and Human Rights
KIIT Journal of Law and Society, 2016