Tags: Law, Globalisation, International system, International law, Global constitutional framework, State institutions, International commerce, Private legal regimes

Aims to explore a range of challenges that law and legal systems are facing today and some of the challenges that lie ahead and to examine to what extent the present institutional design and the global legal universe – if such a thing exists – are apt to successfully cope with such challenges and problems. This is already a tall order to face and what the book does not purport to do is to present a comprehensive set of predictions, the validity of which could later be tested as a matter of whether or not the future has unfolded in line with such assessments. The editors of this book, unfortunately, do not possess a time machine with which one can travel to the future (and to the best of our knowledge, nor do any of the authors who contributed to this book). Indeed, we have no pretention to predict the culture in the manner of a fortune teller. Rather, the intent is to discuss critically the possibilities we can see today and what these trends suggest about our collective future. Therefore, the value of this book is in presenting visionary, innovative and at times bold observations and insights that attempt to look at the law of the future and the future of law; thus initiating further discussion on how to prepare for the future or, better yet, what do we need to do now to reach a desirable future. Unless one opts for an entirely deterministic perspective, the future, of course, is not merely something to look at, rather, something to shape. The decisions we make now will direct our collective future.