Current Legal Definition Research Articles

Apartheid in the Twenty-first Century: Racial Capitalism and the Struggles in Palestine

Apartheid has become an increasingly important framework for understanding and challenging Israeli rule in Palestine. The Apartheid Convention states apartheid is a crime against humanity. We contend what is missing from this definition of apartheid is an economic and ontological link. Although the current legal definition focuses solely on the political regime, it does not provide a strong basis for critiquing the economic aspects of a settler colonial state embedded in apartheid. To address this concern, we propose a more comprehensive definition of apartheid which grew out of the struggle in South Africa during the 1970s that gained support among revolutionaries due to the limits of decolonisation in South Africa after 1994 — highlighting the reality(ies) that apartheid is intimately connected to capitalism. This conceptualisation was termed racial capitalism. This article argues that racial capitalism provides a more thorough understanding of the destructive dynamics of the Israeli settler colonial project, one that insists that the struggle against Israeli domination must confront both the apartheid state and the racial capitalist system if Palestinians ever hope to achieve liberation.

When Is a Decision Automated? A Taxonomy for a Fundamental Rights Analysis

Abstract This Article addresses the pressing issues surrounding the use of automated systems in public decision-making, specifically focusing on migration, asylum, and mobility. Drawing on empirical data, this Article examines the potential and limitations of the General Data Protection Regulation and the Artificial Intelligence Act in effectively addressing the challenges posed by automated decision-making (ADM). The Article argues that the current legal definitions and categorizations of ADM fail to capture the complexity and diversity of real-life applications where automated systems assist human decision-makers rather than replace them entirely. To bridge the gap between ADM in law and practice, this Article proposes to move beyond the concept of “automated decisions” and complement the legal protection in the GDPR and AI Act with a taxonomy that can inform a fundamental rights analysis. This taxonomy enhances our understanding of ADM and allows to identify the fundamental rights at stake and the sector-specific legislation applicable to ADM. The Article calls for empirical observations and input from experts in other areas of public law to enrich and refine the proposed taxonomy, thus ensuring clearer conceptual frameworks to safeguard individuals in our increasingly algorithmic society.

The Problem of Consent with Teledildonics and Adult Webcam Platforms

In this article, I examine some of the dangers that are associated with sex toys known as teledildonics. Unlike more conventional sex toys, teledildonics connect to the internet and allow their users and others to control these devices remotely and often through a Bluetooth connection. While teledildonics introduce new ways of engaging and experiencing sexual pleasure, they do so by risking the personal and sensitive data that such devices transmit and collect from their users. Moreover, I consider the risk that teledildonics pose as connected technologies that can be hacked and controlled, scrutinizing what this means in terms of consent and sexual assault in intimate relationships and on a live adult webcam platform like Chaturbate. I investigate how current legal definitions of consent and sexual assault neglect online sex workers, and especially those who work within a tip and token system like Chaturbate, and question how legal protections can be enforced amidst the jurisdictional and territorial problems that plague cyberspace more broadly. With these lack of protections in place, I build on scholarly research that identifies some of the risks that are associated with teledildonics as technologies of potential sexual assault (Nixon 2018; Sparrow and Karas 2020; Arrell 2022). In specific, I study how Canadian laws are ill-equipped to address the more obscure nature of consent and sexual assault as they pertain to Chaturbate and Lovense devices, a leading teledildonics company.

Redefining Rights in the Age of AI: Philosophical Perspectives in Shaping the Future of International Human Rights Law

AI systems continue to evolve and become increasingly sophisticated, thereby causing concerns regarding their potential for consciousness, emotion, and self-awareness to come to the forefront. This study examines the ethical and legal challenges posed by advanced AI systems and their implications for the international human rights legislative frameworks. Thus, this research not only explores how different philosophical perspectives have defined the terms person and personhood, but also evaluated the shortcomings of current legal definitions and examined the difficulties these concepts present for the recognition of AI rights. The study also highlights the weaknesses of existing international human rights law related to AI rights and the need for more inclusive legal frameworks. The importance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in advancing AI rights and bridging the gap between governments, individuals, and international bodies is emphasized. Furthermore, this paper offers recommendations for the development and implantation of legal frameworks that can address AI rights while remaining responsive to future advances in AI technology.

The ‘imbroglio’ of ecocide: A political economic analysis

Abstract In this article we adopt a political economic lens to analyse the revival of the concept of ecocide in present international legal scholarship and practice. The current campaign to codify the crime of ecocide under international criminal law represents the epitome of a problem-solving approach, which conceives of the law as external to society and as a corrective to its evils. Yet, a large body of critical literature has drawn attention to the constitutive role of international law and to the problems with its depoliticized approach when it comes to tackling global injustices. We build upon this diverse scholarship to illuminate how the technical, acontextual, and ahistorical legal debate on the codification of ecocide ends up normalizing the violent structures of extractive capitalism and its hierarchies. Further, we situate the proposed crime within the wider context of how international law regulates and constitutes the natural world. Drawing on critiques of sustainable development and of business and human rights discourse, we argue that the ‘imbroglio’ of ecocide, in its current legal definition, lies in presenting ecological preservation and devastation as simultaneously legitimate aims. The article ultimately raises the question of the role of international law in progressive political agendas, a question that could not be more pressing in times of entangled socio-ecological-economic disruptions.

A Comparative Legal Analysis on Non-Performing Loans Definition and its Sale Framework in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines

With Covid-19 banking and financial relief measures in the region recently came to an end, it is viewed that non-performing loans ratio’s may increase and there may be a more proactive behaviour by financial institutions in dealing with their non-performing assets including disposing their non-performing loans comprising of both unsecured and secured products by way of sale and purchase to third parties. The purpose of this article is to analyse the current legal definition of non-performing loans in selected Southeast Asian countries together with international organisations recommended definitions. The article will further examine selected Southeast Asian prevailing legislations and regulations that governs the sale of non-performing loans. The author intends to adopt a multi-method research strategy primarily doctrinal legal research as well as qualitative research approach. This article aims to contribute to the legal fraternity and people in general with an overview of the current position in selected Southeast Asian countries.

SOCIAL PROPERTY IN THE COCHABAMBA WATER WAR, BOLIVIA 2000

The Cochabamba water war in 2000 was the first water war of the twenty-first century. During the mobilizations in Bolivia, a factory workers’ manifesto read: “We don’t want private property nor state property, but self-management and social property.” The social practices of many Cochabambinos and Cochabambinas did not defend water as an object. They supported forms of life in common and a way of practicing democracy in the politics of presence. They recalled traditional usos y costumbres, which have been reconfigured in their encounter with other unprecedented practices, situations, and legal systems. Finally, the water war insurgents aimed to restore another practice of democracy and different property relations. Social property (propiedad social) was born in the social and political context of the water war mobilizations. In this article, I investigate social property as a practice that exceeds the current legal definition of ownership and discloses new legal forms of relationship with water. Methodologically, it is about extracting theory from practice – extracting from concrete social practices new concepts that require thinking about.

Facial Masculinization from Procedures to Payment: A Review.

As the demand for gender-affirming procedures continues to increase, patients and providers have a greater imperative to understand the current state of facial masculinization. Facial reconstruction for transgender women has been shown to treat gender dysphoria effectively and reduce rates of discrimination and victimization. Although facial masculinization surgery for transgender men is less common, there are multiple surgical and nonsurgical options to supplement the effect of hormone therapy on facial appearance, including but not limited to: receding the hair line, flattening the forehead, expanding the supraorbital ridge, increasing the dorsal nasal projection, squaring the jaw, and augmenting the chin. This review aims to summarize these techniques for providers who wish to inform transgender male patients about their options and discuss them in the context of patient satisfaction and availability of insurance coverage.

ПУБЛІЧНА СЛУЖБА І ЇЇ ЛЕГАЛЬНА ДЕФІНІЦІЯ

Purpose. Article looks for the terminological unification provided with the legal notion of the public service and methodological opportunities opened for the development of the quality of its personnel Methods. The article deals with the rarely used but deeply rooted in the continental systems notion of public service in its sense as an element of the legal technique by the use of a set of philosophical, general and special research methods. This notion has a history of development, which is outlined with regard to Ukraine and in some general features, coming down to the most damaging and in several instances still halting further development rules and institutions. The text deals with constitutional provisions and perspectives of public service. Some damaging discrepancies are revealed in this regard and proposals as to the improvement are provided. Results. As some terminology is inherited from previous legal regimes, it makes the case for urgent overhaul. Further the text summarizes in many points different kinds of jobs and professions, united under the task of responding to public needs and satisfying public demands, as it is expected from a modern state. Constitution has provided some guidance, but set divergent and partially contradicting goals. Article states, that the public service has to be armed with technics, eligibilities and other means reassuring the modern state acts adequately and timely in their settling. Current legal definition of public service appeared in the Ukrainian law with the Codes of administrative judiciary in 2005. With the time gone it wasn’t especially intensively used, though the personnel of the public agencies constantly needs attention in many respect. Providing some examples of solutions to the problems of public service the article states that terminological unification ahead of competitiveness and improvements in the approaches to the qualifications of public servants will provide for the needed move in the direction of rule of law. Conclusions. As a result of the analysis, the author aims to form the awareness that the legal notion of the public service opens the opportunity to value internal relations between the seemingly far settled different jobs in public service and facilitate new opportunity to higher qualification of the public service personnel.

Death's Troubled Relationship With the Law.

Death's legal definition must be responsive to advances in technology, and it must delineate between life and death. But where to draw the line is difficult to determine. Death's current legal definition requires irreversible cessation of cardiorespiratory function or irreversible cessation of all brain function. But technology can often restore some brain functions without restoring consciousness, so brain death is often diagnosed without the irreversibility requirement being met. This article argues that the law should be updated to require permanent cessation, not irreversible cessation and that medicine should be transparent about what permanent means.

Battered woman syndrome

The aim of this article is to examine the current state of the battered woman syndrome (BWS) defence in Canada and propose an update to the list of factors considered by experts evaluating the applicability of the defence to individual cases. The history and current legal definition of the defence are presented, and theories relating to BWS are summarized. Factors required of expert testimony in BWS cases are presented; cases relevant to the development of the defence that highlight these assessment factors are discussed. In a subsequent section, limitations of the defence and the role of the expert are explored. The PTSD Checklist (used in clinician diagnosis) is summarized before an updated, BWS-specific expert checklist is proposed. The updated checklist proposes six elements to be considered by an expert assessing a BWS case: 1. environmental factors, 2. attempts to leave or alter the situation, 3. risk factors of the abuser, 4. risk factors of the victim, 5. triggers for violence, and 6. contrary evidence. It is hoped that using this checklist will help experts to cover all the essential elements they must consider in order to conclude that a woman satisfies the criteria for BWS. In particular, this updated checklist will help experts to prepare comprehensive testimony that addresses the five issues defined by Justice Wilson as the expert’s duty to assess. In addition, this checklist will help experts present a firm foundation for a defence regarding the critical question of why the night of the offence was different from all other nights.

Concordance of mental capacity assessments based on legal and clinical criteria: A cross-sectional study of psychiatry inpatients

This study aimed to compare assessments of mental capacity based on legal criteria with assessments based on clinical criteria among psychiatry inpatients to establish the concordance, if any, between these two approaches to assessing mental capacity. We assessed mental capacity for treatment decisions in 215 psychiatry inpatients (176 voluntary and 39 involuntary) in four psychiatry admission units in Ireland using both legal criteria (Ireland's Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015) and clinical criteria (the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment; MacCAT-T). Over one third of participants (34.9%) lacked mental capacity for treatment decisions according to the legal criteria. Mental incapacity was associated with involuntary admission status, being unemployed, a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia or a related disorder, and older age. Patients who lacked mental capacity according to the legislation scored significantly lower on all subscales of the MacCAT-T than patients who had mental capacity. We conclude that mental capacity assessments based on legal criteria correlate closely with those based on clinical criteria. These findings support current legal definitions of mental incapacity in Ireland and other jurisdictions with similar legislation (e.g. England and Wales).

Your Smart Coffee Machine Knows What You Did Last Summer: A Legal Analysis of the Limitations of Traditional Privacy of the Home under Dutch Law in the Era of Smart Technology

By Lisa van Dongen and Tjerk Timan. The increasing number of smart devices entering our homes have implications for privacy. Not only do we bring in more spying devices into the home, often these smart objects are linked to data streams or other devices that leave the home – thereby literally taking private matters into public space. In this paper, we take the context of the Netherlands to show that current legal definitions and protections of the home are inadequate to deal with novel privacy threats that stem from devices that interact with us beyond the screen.

A study into the layers of automated decision-making: emergent normative and legal aspects of deep learning

ABSTRACTThe paper dissects the intricacies of automated decision making (ADM) and urges for refining the current legal definition of artificial intelligence (AI) when pinpointing the role of algorithms in the advent of ubiquitous computing, data analytics and deep learning. Whilst coming up with a toolkit to measure algorithmic determination in automated/semi-automated tasks might be proven to be a tedious task for the legislator, our main aim here is to explain how a thorough understanding of the layers of ADM could be a first good step towards this direction: AI operates on a formula based on several degrees of automation employed in the interaction between the programmer, the user, and the algorithm. The paper offers a fresh look at AI, which exposes certain vulnerabilities in its current legal interpretation. To highlight this argument, analysis proceeds in two parts: Part 1 strives to provide a taxonomy of the various levels of automation that reflects distinct degrees of human–machine interaction. Part 2 further discusses the intricate nature of AI algorithms and considers how one can utilize observed patterns in acquired data. Finally, the paper explores the legal challenges that result from user empowerment and the requirement for data transparency.

Action-Oriented Responses to Sexual Harassment in Egypt

Action-Oriented Responses to Sexual Harassment in Egypt

Eccentricity: the case for undermining legal categories of disability and normalcy

Disability discrimination laws are directed at protecting people with disabilities, including people with ‘disturbed’ behaviour, or behaviour that is a manifestation of a disability, from unfavourable treatment. Yet, in doing so, discrimination laws contribute to the creation of a stigmatized and seemingly static legal category of disability. In response, this paper presents eccentricity as a ‘border’ region between disability and normalcy, one that can disturb the strict and stigmatizing boundary between these artificially separate categories of identity. Eccentricity, understood as a set of socially unusual or unconventional behaviours and traits, is a heightened version of the quirks and idiosyncrasies we all share, and reveals the interconnection of disability and normalcy. This paper asks whether current legal and biomedical definitions of disability, especially under disability discrimination law, have unnecessarily eradicated this rich and destabilizing category of identity and behaviour. Is law complicit in the narrowing of what it means to be ‘normal’, the expansion of what it means to be ‘disabled’ and the destruction of what would otherwise connect those two imagined states of being? This paper examines the way that law deals with eccentricity and argues that it is a concept that can potentially enrich our approach to discrimination law.

Informed consent for the diagnosis of brain death: a conceptual argument.

BackgroundThis essay provides an ethical and conceptual argument for the use of informed consent prior to the diagnosis of brain death. It is meant to enable the family to make critical end-of-life decisions, particularly withdrawal of life support system and organ donation, before brain death is diagnosed, as opposed to the current practice of making such decisions after the diagnosis of death. The recent tragic case of a 13-year-old brain-dead patient in California who was maintained on a ventilator for over 2 years illustrates how such a consent would have made a crucial difference.MethodsConceptual, philosophical, and ethical analysis.ResultsI first consider a conceptual justification for the use of consent for certain non-beneficial and unwanted medical diagnoses. I suggest that the diagnosis of brain death falls into this category for some patients. Because the diagnostic process of brain death lacks the transparency of traditional death determination, has a unique epistemic structure and a complex risk-benefit profile which differs markedly from case to case, and presents conflicts of interest for physicians and society, I argue that pre-diagnostic counseling and informed consent should be part of the diagnostic process. This approach can be termed as “allow cardiac death”, whose parallel logic with “allow natural death” is discussed. I also discuss potential negative impacts on organ donation and health care cost from this proposal and offer possible mitigation. I show that the pre-diagnostic counseling can improve the possibility for well-thought-out decisions regarding organ donation and terminating life-support system in cases of hopeless prognosis. This approach differs conceptually from the pluralism of the definition of death, such as those in New Jersey and Japan, and it upholds the Uniform Determination of Death Act.ConclusionsMy intention is not to provide an instant panacea for the ongoing impasse of the brain death debate, but to point to a novel conceptual ground for a more pragmatic, and more patient- and family-centered approach. By enabling the family to consent to or decline the diagnostic process of brain death, but not to choose the definition of death, it upholds the current legal definition of death.

New technologies in agricultural biotechnology

Technologies that emerged during the last decade as new tools occasionally represent fundamentally new means of genome modification, which, in addition to the scientific novelty, faces legislators with new challenge by giving a new meaning to both the biochemical/molecular biological and legal meaning to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Emerging plant genetic technologies are categorized as zinc finger nuclease technology; oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis; cisgenesis and intragenesis; RNA-dependent DNA methylation by RNA interference; grafting on genetically modified rootstock; reverse breeding; agro-infiltration; and synthetic genomics. Although all these methods apply biotechnology processes to create new plant varieties, it is debated whether all result in GMOs according to the current legal definition. Official risk assessment of these technologies is a task of outstanding weight of the authority.

El concepto jurídico de persona y la filosofía del "impersonal"

The article focuses on presenting three arguments that range from less to more in terms of their radical stance on the current legal definition of person. The contribution of the first argument to this discussion lies mainly with a clarification of terminology. In the second argument, Roberto Esposito, despite considering replacing someone with something and saving humanity as a result, does not surpass his teacher Simone Weil. She is far more important, thanks to the impact of her personality, her qualities as a writer and her radicalism. In the third argument, Simone Weil provides a demonstration of intellectual power that makes one shudder. Her writing reflects a consistent mind, at times out of reach, but her idea of a philosophy of the is unacceptable. Every human being has impersonal elements, such as language, and personal elements, including their manner of speaking and writing. A world without these two elements is simply inconceivable.

Avoiding terminological confusion between the notions of ‘biometrics’ and ‘biometric data’: an investigation into the meanings of the terms from a European data protection and a scientific perspective

This article has been motivated by an observation: the lack of rigor by European bodies when they use scientific terms to address data protection and privacy issues raised by biometric technologies and biometric data. In particular, they improperly use the term ‘biometrics’ to mean at the same time ‘biometric data’, ‘identification method’, or ‘biometric technologies’. Based on this observation, there is a need to clarify what ‘biometrics’ means for the biometric community and whether and how the legal community should use the term in a data protection and privacy context. In parallel to that exercise of clarification, there is also a need to investigate the current legal definition of ‘biometric data’ as framed by European bodies at the level of the European Union and the Council of Europe. The comparison of the regulatory and scientific definitions of the term ‘biometric data’ reveals that the term is used in two different contexts. However, it is legitimate to question the role that the scientific definition could exercise on the regulatory definition. More precisely, the question is whether the technical process through which biometric information is extracted and transformed into a biometric template should be reflected in the regulatory definition of the term.