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6221. Parliamentary Briefing: Contract Disclosure

Author:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Extractive contracts are principal documents between a government and a company that details the terms and conditions under which a resource is exploited. While many jurisdictions have not traditionally made their oil, gas and mineral contracts available to the public, more recent developments show that contract disclosure is feasible and desirable for a wide range of countries. This briefing provides a number of reasons for the disclosure of extractive contracts. It also looks at questions and strategies for parliamentary monitoring and enforcing extractive agreements.
Topic:
Corruption, Government, Natural Resources, Accountability, and Extractive Industries
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

6222. Parliamentary Briefing: EITI

Author:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
The Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) seeks to improve transparency and accountability in the oil, gas and mining sectors. In countries participating in EITI, oil, gas and mining companies must publish what they pay to governments, and governments must publish what they receive. Parliaments play an essential role in working to ensure that oil, gas and mining resources benefit the public interest. The EITI reporting scheme offers many benefits to members of parliament including providing essential information on revenues, licenses, and production data for oversight purposes. This briefing provides an introduction to the EITI standard, and suggests questions and strategies for successful parliamentary engagement with the EITI.
Topic:
Corruption, Natural Resources, Accountability, and Extractive Industries
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

6223. Managing and Spending Natural Resource Revenues

Author:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Oil, gas and mineral resources are distinctly different from other sources of government income. Only through good macroeconomic policy and public financial management can a country take full advantage of natural resources. This briefing examines the different tools available to a country and the role that members of parliament can play in overseeing the management of natural resource revenues. Furthermore it offers parliamentary questions and strategies for effective policy and oversight.
Topic:
Oil, Natural Resources, Gas, Tax Systems, Macroeconomics, Revenue Management, and Minerals
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

6224. State Participation in Oil, Gas and Mining

Author:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
State participation in oil, gas and mining is often exercised through state-owned enterprises (SOEs), whereby governments take a direct ownership stake in oil, mineral or gas ventures, either as the sole commercial entity or in partnership with private companies. This briefing gives an overview of the different structures of state participation and an introduction to the governance/management of state-owned enterprises. Furthermore, it offer questions and strategies for effective parliamentary oversight of SOEs.
Topic:
Oil, Natural Resources, Gas, Mining, and State-Owned Enterprises
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

6225. Extraterritorial processing in Europe: Is ‘regional protection’ the answer, and if not, what is?

Author:
Jane McAdam
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney
Abstract:
The loss of over 700 lives in a single incident in the Mediterranean on 18 April 2015, following a six-day period in which over 10,000 migrants were rescued, has sparked renewed debates about whether extraterritorial processing – sometimes called ‘offshore processing’ – might save lives at sea.1 Despite a plethora of European proposals over the past 20 years, none has ever been sufficiently fleshed out to receive adequate support to be implemented. Legal and practical concerns have proven insurmountable. There is also recognition that while regional or other external processing arrangements may provide a useful complement to other protection mechanisms, they are not a solution in and of themselves. This paper examines European proposals for extraterritorial processing and the establishment of regional protection centres by considering: • their policy rationale; • their history; • legal concerns; • comparisons with Australia and the United States; • the role of host States; • models for regional processing; and • complementary strategies that can provide a protection ‘toolkit’. Cooperative regional approaches can help States to develop more coherent, systematic and predictable responses to refugee movements. But they must acknowledge the concerns and interests of all participating States. And timely solutions for refugees will be central to their success or failure. The paper concludes by offering a flexible range of tools that can help States to provide protection in a safer, and more regular, manner. Unless States create measures to allow people to seek protection lawfully, dangerous journeys will continue.
Topic:
Refugees, Protection, Asylum Seekers, and Extraterritorial Processing
Political Geography:
Europe, Australia, United States of America, and Mediterranean

6226. Regional refugee protection in comparative perspective: Lessons learned from the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Africa, and Europe

Author:
Kate Jastram
Publication Date:
11-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney
Abstract:
Refugee movements in South-East Asia, the Middle East and Europe during 2015, along with the fact that more people are displaced now than at any time since the Second World War, provide an opportune moment to revisit some of the key regional cooperation arrangements for refugee protection. There are lessons to be learned, in particular from the 1989 Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indochinese Refugees, and its precursor agreement in 1979 (CPA), as well as from the 1989 International Conference on Central American Refugees (CIREFCA). These two programs were widely seen as successful when they were implemented, and they have stood the test of time. Regional refugee protection cooperation arrangements can provide practical, principled responses by several States working together to meet the protection needs and humanitarian challenges posed by the movement of asylum seekers, whether fleeing in large or small numbers. There is no single definition of a regional cooperation arrangement, but the most important and useful examples are those that are protection-oriented. The need for States to work cooperatively is found in the Preamble to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and UNHCR’s Executive Committee, comprised of 98 States, has provided a great deal of guidance on regional approaches to protection. States participate in regional arrangements because they can be an effective means of providing protection in a manner beyond the reach of a single State. Regional arrangements can be flexible and responsive to the particular circumstances presented, within a basic framework of protection principles. The legal issues relevant to regional refugee cooperation arrangements can be organised in three categories: non-refoulement (non-return) and other substantive standards; procedural standards; and standards of treatment.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Refugees, Protection, and UNHCR
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia