The Islamic insurance (Takaful) introduced in March, 2013, was specifically meant to bridge the endemic insurance gap in Nigeria by engendering deepening insurance penetration and financial inclusion of the hitherto underserved and uninsured huge Muslim clientele. However, the Takaful Operational Guidelines and a host of other enabling insurance instruments are caught up in a web of regulatory conflict and ambiguity. The legal effect of this is a huge regulatory vacuum that is bound to impact negatively on capital investment climate, breed mistrust and uncertainty and discourage participation in the nascent Takaful industry. Nigeria would need to draw from the vast experiences of Malaysia in order to overcome these challenges. Nigeria and Malaysia are both former British colonies with diverse ethnic and socio-cultural backgrounds. They both practice divergent legal systems in a secular setting. Both have sizeable numbers of Muslim population. While Malaysia is considered the hub of Takaful practice in the world, Nigeria is just an emerging market in the now trending Islamic financial revolution. This paper examines the enormous general and regulatory challenges the nascent Nigerian Takaful practice will encounter in its quest to attain sustainability and vibrancy. The methodology of the study is both doctrinal and qualitative whilst employing non-random sampling technique. The study employs both primary and secondary sources of information and interviews where appropriate. The study finds the need for a review and harmonization of all the enabling insurance instruments in Nigeria, transforming the current business models and improving practices in the insurance sector to enhance the application of Takaful. The study recommends the enactment of a Takaful Act like that of Malaysia.

Although the banking sector does not directly affect the environment, it can pursue environmentally friendly practices and reduce waste. Moreover, it can promote environmentally sustainable investments and encourage businesses to adopt similar practices. Because Islam encourages preservation and prohibits harm to the earth, Islamic banks are expected to follow such practices in pursuit of Sharīʿah compliance. In Malaysia, Islamic banks have already embarked on this path, mainly by practising conservation in operational matters; however, other areas of sustainable financing have been less enthusiastically pursued. This study recommends a three-level approach: (1) at the banking level, more proactive steps should be taken, e.g. greening operations, introducing environmentally friendly products and services, complying with environmental regulations, creating awareness and training stakeholders; (2) at the national level, the Central Bank should introduce appropriate policies and guidelines; and (3) at an international level, voluntary principles should be adopted to ensure compliance with global initiatives.

Green banking frameworks encourage banks to manage their in-house operations and lend and invest in an environmentally sustainable manner. There are at present six nations in Asia that have a green banking framework – Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Mongolia and Vietnam. Each of the six countries have distinctive green banking policies and frameworks suited to their own national agendas. This article aims to provide a summary of the main green banking frameworks issued by each country's respective regulatory authority or banking association and possible reasons why these six countries have established such a framework. It then focuses specifically on the framework and banking policies practiced in Bangladesh and China, given their experience and strong establishments. The effects of introducing green banking frameworks and policies in Bangladesh and China are also accessed. The article then concludes with recommendations on what more can be done to enhance green banking in Bangladesh and China.

The development of the law on piracy under two major international treaties; the Geneva Convention, 1958 and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 has witnessed great acceptance and application of the law with many coastal states have crafted specific anti-piracy law as a manifestation of their commitments to the international treaties. However, up until today, Malaysia has yet to come out with a single and unified statute against piracy despite being a member to both treaties. The law is scattered in a different set of documents and carried out by various agencies that are responsible to each respective law. It is argued that given this is the position in Malaysia, the prosecution of piracy would be a critical problem for the law enforcement. In this paper, we address this concern by looking at both Malaysian legal framework as well as the experience of the country against international piracy, particularly the case of Bunga Laurel. The findings suggest that there are more than twenty Acts that might be used against piracy. As a sovereign state under the international law, Malaysia also has the right to resort to principles of international law for the apprehension and prosecution of high sea pirates. To this effect, the case of Bunga Laurel has really manifested the successful application of Malaysian law by the High Court of Malaya against international piracy. The paper concludes that the absence of a single anti-piracy law is not necessarily an obstacle, but instead an advantage with great choice of law available for the prosecution in this country.

Dalam memperkatakan mengenai perbicaraan jenayah, keutamaan diberikan kepada hak tertuduh mendapat perbicaraan yang adil. Salah satu cabang dari hak tersebut ialah hak perbicaraan segera di mana tertuduh berhak mendapatkan penyelesaian akan tuduhan yang dikenakan ke atasnya dalam jangka waktu yang munasabah. Namun demikian, kelewatan dalam prosiding jenayah adalah isu yang sering berlaku dan kelewatan ini dilihat sebagai sesuatu yang boleh memprejudiskan seseorang tertuduh. Justeru, kajian ini akan mengfokuskan kepada isu kelewatan yang berlaku di dalam perbicaraan-perbicaraan jenayah, dan setakat mana mahkamah dibenarkan oleh undang-undang untuk campur tangan dalam usaha menyelesaikan permasalahan ini. Metodologi kajian perpustakaan diguna pakai yang mana metodologi-metodologi analisis kandungan dan analisis kritis dilaksanakan ke atas statut, artikel serta laporan kes yang berkaitan. Hasil kajian mendapati kuasa campur tangan mahkamah adalah terhad disebabkan kuasa prerogatif yang diberikan kepada pihak pendakwa menurut undang-undang. Kajian ini turut mendapati keperluan keseimbangan di antara hak tertuduh dengan hak kerajaan dan hak masyarakat. Berdasarkan kepada kedua-dua dapatan tersebut, kajian ini mencadangkan supaya semua agensi yang terlibat memainkan peranan masing-masing dengan sebaiknya bagi memastikan kelancaran perbicaraan jenayah demi kepentingan semua pihak iaitu tertuduh, kerajaan dan masyarakat awam. Kata kunci: Hak perbicaraan segera; kelambatan prosiding; kuasa mahkamah; kuasa pendakwa; tatacara jenayah