Law and Economy

Automated Teller Machine Transactions and Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria: A Multivariate Approach

Okpunor Loveth — 2025-10-30

This study examined Automated Teller Machine transactions and performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria. To achieve this objective, the estimated model was to examine the impact of volume, value and number of ATMs on performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria. Adopting the OLS multiple regression technique, secondary data was obtained from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical database on CBN website. The OLS regression results indicated that volume of ATM transactions has no significant influence on bank performance. While value of ATMs transaction and numbers of ATMs positively and significantly impacts on the performance of DMBs in Nigeria. The study concludes that ATM transactions are on the increase since its inception in Nigeria. To some extent, the outcomes of our study have justified the implementation of this initiative and ATMs has sufficiently impacted banking performance. It is recommended among other things that monetary authorities and managers of deposits money banks should increase the spread of ATMs terminals across the country since the efficient utilization of ATMs ultimately enhance bank performance in Nigeria.

An Appraisal of the Concept and Nature of Diplomatic Immunity Under International Law

Albert Chei Lysinge Jr — 2025-11-11

This article focuses on the concept and juridical contours of diplomatic immunity as enshrined within the corpus of international law. It interrogates the doctrinal underpinnings, normative justifications, and evolving interpretive paradigms governing the immunities and privileges accorded to diplomatic agents, particularly within the framework of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Rooted in the principles of functional necessity and sovereign equality, diplomatic immunity is here appraised not merely as a pragmatic tool of diplomatic intercourse, but as a sui generis manifestation of international legal personality and intersubjective state comity. The paper analytically deconstructs the bifurcation between ratione personae and ratione materiae immunities, while critically evaluating the tension between the inviolability of diplomatic personnel and the imperatives of host state jurisdiction, accountability, and human rights obligations. Furthermore, the article explores emergent state practices and judicial pronouncements that challenge or reinforce the orthodoxy of absolute immunity, thereby revealing the dialectical nexus between customary international law, treaty law, and the shifting matrix of geopolitical realities. The inquiry contends that while diplomatic immunity remains an indispensable tenet of international diplomatic relations, its contours demand recalibration to reconcile the foundational objective of sovereign representation with the imperatives of justice, legal certainty, and international accountability.

The Effectiveness of the Measures Put in Place Protecting Consumers Against Dangerous Goods in Cameroon

Felix Fung Kum — 2025-11-11

Over the years, consumer protection has been driven by increasing concerns about public health and safety due to the circulation of hazardous and substandard products, necessitating legislative responses. The research problem focuses on the gaps and inefficiencies in legal frameworks and enforcement mechanisms that undermine consumer protection against dangerous goods, exposing consumers to significant health and safety risks. The main research objective is to evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of existing protective measures, legal instruments, and enforcement practices in Cameroon. The study adopts a qualitative methodology involving a review of relevant laws, policies, legal cases, and interviews with stakeholders in consumer protection agencies and industry regulators. Major findings reveal that while Cameroon has established legal provisions such as the Penal Code and Consumer Protection Law to deter the circulation of dangerous goods, enforcement remains weak due to institutional deficiencies, lack of public awareness, and limited regulatory oversight. The study concludes that these challenges compromise consumer safety and hinder the full realization of protective laws. The research recommends strengthening regulatory institutions, enhancing public education campaigns on consumer rights, increasing monitoring and enforcement of safety standards, and improving coordination among agencies to ensure more effective protection of consumers against dangerous goods.

Review of Procuratorial Recommendations as a Mechanism for Environmental Administrative Public Interest Litigation

Wenping Yuan — 2025-11-11

The prosecutorial recommendation system for environmental administrative public interest litigation represents a significant innovation in the procuratorial organs’ fulfillment of their legal supervisory responsibilities. This article reviews relevant research and analyzes its development and challenges from the perspectives of institutional attributes, procedural rules, and practical difficulties. The research concludes that while this system combines pre-litigation procedural and independent oversight, it has become a relatively complete system. However, it still faces challenges such as insufficient rigidity, ambiguous standards, and poor coordination. Future efforts should strengthen its legalization, refinement, and coordination to promote its greater role in the rule of law for ecological civilization.

Application and Risk Mitigation of the “Direct Lease + Equity Pledge” Model in the Green Energy Sector

Sheng Zhang — 2025-12-03

The green energy transition faces three major financing bottlenecks: insufficient collateral, residual value volatility, and rapid technological iteration. Traditional credit and bond instruments have significant limitations in covering light-asset projects. This paper constructs a triple-layer credit enhancement structure of “direct lease + equity pledge + cash flow supervision,” incorporating shareholders’ residual claims into the seizable asset pool. Based on option pricing theory, the optimal equity pledge ratio is derived to be between 8% and 12%. Taking the 2 billion yuan energy storage project in Ningxia Baofeng as a typical case, this model achieves a 2.3 percentage point reduction in financing costs, a 6-month shorter construction period, and zero overdue payments. A quantitative analysis of 128 green leasing projects from 2019 to 2024 indicates that the equity pledge ratio has a significant inverse U-shaped relationship with the project’s non-performing rate, with the curve’s inflection point at 10.2%. For every 10 percentage point increase in the cash flow supervision ratio, the financing cost can be further reduced by 0.5 percentage points (Luo, M., Du, B., Zhang, W., Song, T., Li, K., Zhu, H., ... & Wen, H., 2023). A comparison of the systems in China and the United States shows that differences in registration time, liquidation speed, appraisal standards, and tax incentives can account for 70% of the cross-border funding cost gap. This paper proposes policy recommendations such as establishing a five-day green channel for equity pledge, jointly building a dynamic database for technological residual value, and promoting mutual recognition of leasing standards, providing replicable and scalable solutions for green leasing to support the global carbon neutrality goal.

The Legal Dilemmas and Solutions of Automated Administrative Penalties

Yilin Liu — 2025-12-03

In the digital era, automated administration—an emerging administrative phenomenon—is profoundly reshaping public governance models. However, automated administrative penalties have also raised a series of legal challenges for digital governance. This article first clarifies the fundamental concepts and typology of automated administration and automated administrative penalties, then analyzes their underlying dilemmas from three perspectives: legitimacy, procedural fairness, and rights remedies. First, algorithmic discretion leads to the erosion of legislative authorization and the subsumption of individual justice. Second, impersonal operation renders traditional procedural safeguards like notification and defense ineffective. Third, algorithmic black boxes and review barriers exacerbate the difficulty of seeking remedies. To resolve these dilemmas, this paper constructs a systematic pathway: reconstructing digital due process through dynamic notification, in-process objections, and substantive human review; enhancing algorithmic accountability and reforming judicial review standards to improve rights protection; and finally, clarifying legal liability by upholding administrative principal responsibility and establishing clear traceability chains. These measures collectively advance automated administrative penalties toward stable and sustainable development within the rule of law.