This article brings Cotterrell’s legal concept of community based on trust-based interactions in social life to expand the critical horizons of economic sociology of law (ESL) in its analytical, normative and empirical aspects for law and development in Africa. Dominant law and economics approaches sometimes see informal economic activity as an aberration and/or an obstacle in development. This article proposes an alternative way of looking at informality in development in Africa through the lens of ESL. As part of wider social life, economic life is about social interactions in production, exchange, distribution and consumption while legal life is about social relations in and under the law. Furthermore, ‘legal and economic life shape and are shaped by each other, as well as by the wider social, and more-than-human, world’. This calls for a framework that reconceptualises law in ways that are inclusive of the many state, social, economic and other normative orders such as informal economic activity in African societies that are continually interacting as part of wider social life.

Informal debt collection is a widespread but underregulated phenomenon in Southeast Asia, where institutional enforcement remains weak and access to formal credit is limited. This article offers the first comparative legal analysis of informal debt collection practices and regulatory responses in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines, with Australia serving as a reference jurisdiction. Drawing on a functionalist methodology, the study examines how sector-specific rules, soft-law guidelines, and general consumer protection law shape debt recovery processes across divergent legal and institutional contexts. It argues that informal collection methods, while often abusive, also reflect broader socio-economic conditions and governance gaps that cannot be addressed through technical legal reform alone. The article highlights emerging regulatory trends, including protections for small and medium enterprises, targeted safeguards for vulnerable debtors, and incremental licensing regimes, while cautioning against one-size-fits-all solutions. It proposes a phased reform strategy that combines national consolidation of legislative frameworks with the regional convergence of baseline norms around dignity, fairness, and enforcement transparency.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a critical intervention that greatly reduces the risk of HIV transmission, yet limited access to prescribing providers continues to constrain uptake in the United States. This study examines how geographic access to PrEP providers changed between 2020 and 2023 and identifies areas with limited access, referred to as PrEP deserts. Using the Integrated two-step floating catchment area method, this study finds that despite widespread gains in PrEP access, five states experienced increases in the total population living in PrEP deserts. Additionally, more than 5 million residents in states designated as priority jurisdictions under the Ending the HIV epidemic initiative gained geographic access to PrEP providers between 2020 and 2023. However, improvements were uneven: in some states, communities of colour experienced declining access and remain disproportionately represented in PrEP deserts. These findings highlight persistent geographic and demographic disparities in HIV prevention infrastructure despite recent federal efforts to expand PrEP availability.

The Wieser Report has emphasized how the European Financial Architecture for Development is characterized by a high level of overlap and fragmentation that produces inefficiencies in delivering aid. Fragmentation and overlap reduce the ability of the EU, the EU Member States, and the European financial institutions to compete as a single player with other stakeholders in the field of financing for development cooperation. To overcome this flaw, the Wieser Report has suggested changing the governance framework, proposing three options. One of these options would be to establish a European Bank for Cooperation and Development. The membership would include several stakeholders: the EU, the EU Member States, other European States, the European development banks, and the recipient countries. Including the recipient countries as full members would allow them to participate in defining and implementing the policy of the institution.

The Constitution of Uganda does not expressly provide for citizens’ right to participate in law-making processes. However, it can be inferred from the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy and Article 38(1) of the Constitution. The drafting history of Article 38 shows that Ugandans are expected to participate in all affairs of government. In Male Mabirizi and Others v Attorney-General and Others, Supreme Court judges invoked foreign case law to interpret Article 38 as requiring meaningful public participation in the law-making process; however, in Hon. Fox Odoi and Others v Attorney-General and Others, it was held that those criteria were not applicable. I argue that the Constitutional Court erred in this, and that the process followed to pass the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (Amendment) Act (2025) did not meet the criteria of meaningful participation. It was also contrary to the practice adopted by Parliament in processing other bills.