The present Millennium Development Goals are set to expire in 2015 and their next iteration is now being discussed within the international community. With regards to health, the World Health Organization proposes universal health coverage as a ‘single overarching health goal’ for the next iteration of the Millennium Development Goals.The present Millennium Development Goals have been criticised for being ‘duplicative’ or even ‘competing alternatives’ to international human rights law. The question then arises, if universal health coverage would indeed become the single overarching health goal, replacing the present health-related Millennium Development Goals, would that be more consistent with the right to health? The World Health Organization seems to have anticipated the question, as it labels universal health coverage as “by definition, a practical expression of the concern for health equity and the right to health”.Rather than waiting for the negotiations to unfold, we thought it would be useful to verify this contention, using a comparative normative analysis. We found that – to be a practical expression of the right to health – at least one element is missing in present authoritative definitions of universal health coverage: a straightforward confirmation that international assistance is essential, not optional.But universal health coverage is a ‘work in progress’. A recent proposal by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network proposed universal health coverage with a set of targets, including a target for international assistance, which would turn universal health coverage into a practical expression of the right to health care.

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Purpose – The article aims to rely on the global wealth chains theory to study the effect of tax amnesty on anti-money laundering (AML) in Bangladesh. This theory is an analytical framework intended to identify how wealth is repackaged and disguised to move it out of spheres of state oversight, regulation and taxation. It introduces the law on AML in Bangladesh, pointing out the revised Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendation that has expanded the scope of money laundering predicate offences to cover both indirect and direct tax crimes and smuggling in relation to customs and excise duties and taxes. Design/methodology/approach – Interviews in Bangladesh and desk research. Findings – There are some gaps in the scope of the offence, the coverage of predicate offences and the types of property covered by the money laundering offence. There is also an absence of financial penalties available to effectively sanction legal persons. The current money laundering offences are derived from the ordinance issued in 2008 by the caretaker government (2006-2008). The current act contains detailed definitions of money laundering and property and a list of predicate offences and sanctions for the offence. However, there are some gaps in the physical elements of the offence, and the range of its predicate offences remains too narrow. Adding tax evasion to its list of predicate offences will, given the history of money laundering in Bangladesh, aid in combating illegal transfer of assets abroad and recovery of the same and abolish tax amnesty. Originality/value – There is no paper that has analysed the linkages between money laundering and taxation in developing countries, especially Bangladesh.

Scholarship on international health law is currently pushing the boundaries while taking stock of achievements made over the past few decades. However despite the forward thinking approach of scholars working in the field of global health one area remains a stumbling block in the path to achieving the right to health universally: the financing of heath. This paper uses the book Global Health Law by Larry Gostin to reflect and take stock of the fiscal support provided to the right to health from both a global and an African perspective. It then sets out the key fiscal challenges facing global and African health and proposes an innovative solution for consideration: use of the domestic principles of tax to design the global health financing system.

This paper addresses the challenges of taxing the digital economy and offers potential solutions towards aligning the digital economy by redefining the tax rules governing traditional businesses. The methodology employed is purely descriptive and explanatory highlighting specific countries and their approach to taxing the digital economy. The literature addressed in the paper focuses on recent government responses in highlighting the problem with digital taxation and identifying the key areas requiring policy recommendations, which the paper then offers to provide. Although several academic works have addressed the challenges of taxing the digital economy, there has been little systematic description on what policy recommendations ought to be made that would provide an effective template for developing African countries to rely on in enacting their own laws. This paper amends this omission.