"Co-operative Enterprise Law", Helsinki Summer School, 5-21th August

Co-operative enterprise law is only rarely part of teaching curricula, even if around one billion members around the world are involved in this special form of enterprise with an economic and social impact to match. The repeated crisis resilience of co-operatives and the growing awareness that sustainable development issues must also be addressed by and through enterprises brings this shortcoming to light. The 2009 UN Resolution on the International Year of Cooperatives 2012, as well as the final declaration of the Rio + 20 conference attest to that. This course will examine co-operative law, which also includes other fields of law as they impact on the structure and operations of co-operatives, such as labour law, tax law, competition law and accounting and bookkeeping standards, as well as law making and implementation procedures.

Learning objectives

At the end of the course the student should be able to distinguish the co-operative form of enterprise from other forms, especially from the stock company in terms of its legal structure, i.e. its specific management and governance, the nature and structure of its capital and its control mechanisms.

Students will learn about developments that impact on how co-operative law develops. These complex developments include a general trend to harmonise law; the emergence of international regulations which directly impact on enterprises; regional co-operative legislation and regional framework laws; as well as innovations on the co-operative form of enterprise itself.

http://www.helsinkisummerschool.fi/home/courses/_cooperative_enterprise_law