ABSTRACT This paper examines how dwelling modifications in Chinese urban villages contribute to migrants’ well-being and foster critical cosmopolitanism. Despite extensive research on informal settlements, little attention has been paid to interior alterations as mechanisms for self-actualization amongst marginalized populations. Drawing on critical cosmopolitan theory, we demonstrate that housing adjustments function as therapeutic interventions enabling migrants to forge new relationships between their immediate surroundings and broader urban contexts. Data were collected through interpretive ethnographic fieldwork (2021–2024) with forty-six migrant households in Guquanlu, Shanghai, and Xiawang Village, Wenzhou. Qualitative methods included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and informal conversations. Thematic analysis revealed three distinct stages of self-actualization through spatial modification: basic needs fulfillment, meaningful relationship formation and perception of future advancement. We recommend policy reforms that recognize dwelling modifications as legitimate spatial rights, establish flexible building codes for urban villages, and integrate migrant self-actualization practices into inclusive urban planning frameworks. Highlights Interior modifications enable self-actualization in Chinese urban villages. Three stages identified: basic needs, relationships, and future advancement. Dwelling modifications constitute ‘spatial care work’ for migrant well-being. Constraints paradoxically strengthen communal bonds and cosmopolitan agency. Policy reform needed: Modification Zones and Community Design Boards. In claiming to be cosmopolitēs, Diogenes points to a judging authority of a different kind. For Aristotle, the critical office (archē kritikē) derives from the constitution of the polis itself; the polis precedes all of its constituent units and agents (Arisotle, 1998). For the cosmopolitēs, in contrast, critique precedes the polis. (Milstein, 2015, p. 17)

As a new type of production factor, data highlights the importance of regulating data-related systems in the realization of data value. It is crucial to clarify the rights framework in the process of data circulation and to rely on sound systems to protect the legitimate rights and interests of data stakeholders, thereby promoting the healthy development of the data market. Moreover, research on the confirmation of rights should be based on the legal principles of data property rights, exploring the nature, exclusivity, and rationality of data property rights. By formalizing data property rights to regulate and guide key links such as data production, circulation, and transactions, a solid framework of legal norms in the data field can be comprehensively established, providing comprehensive and multi-level robust protection for the rights of relevant data entities.

In recent years, the implementation model of "digital administrative filing" has been continuously integrated into the whole scenario, field and process of administrative filing. Among them, algorithmic filing, as a beneficial practice of the administrative filing system to intervene in algorithm supervision, not only reflects the enabling role of digital information technology in administrative filing, but also exposes the huge hidden danger that there may be an imbalance of rights and responsibilities in the application of digital administrative filing. Therefore, this paper will focus on the transmutation phenomenon of the three major elements of administrative filing under digitalization and the problems faced by the current traditional administrative filing implementation model in the supervision of algorithmic filing, and deeply discuss the significance of digital administrative filing in responding to digital government governance, improving the precision level of administrative filing supervision, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of administrative counterparts.

In the modern labor relations system, the probation period serves as an important link between employers and employees, representing a crucial stage for both parties to mutually assess and adapt to each other. Currently, the imbalance between supply and demand in China's labor market still persists in some sectors, with employees remaining in a relatively vulnerable position within labor rela-tions. Some employers, leveraging their informational advantages and dominant position, frequently circumvent legal regulations and infringe upon the rights and interests of employees during the probation period. Such behaviors not only seriously harm the legitimate rights and interests of employees, trigger a large number of labor disputes, but also disrupt the fair competition order in the labor market and affect the harmony and stability of labor relations. According to sta-tistics from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, in the past five years, disputes involving the probation period have accounted for an average of 18.7% of labor dispute cases nationwide, showing a rising trend year by year. Among them, disputes over probationary wages, termination of labor contracts, and agreement on the duration of the probation period have become the three major types of disputes, accounting for 35.2%, 31.5%, and 20.3% of probation-related disputes respectively. This data fully reflects the urgent reality of protecting employees' rights and interests during the probation period and exposes many issues in the current application of laws. Therefore, from the perspective of the Labor Contract Law, it is of great practical significance to conduct an in-depth study on the legal application issues concerning the protection of employees' rights and interests during the probation period.

Based on the analysis of typical academic degree cases such as “Tian Yong v. Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications,” “Zhang Xiangyang v. Wuhan University,” and “He Xiaoqiang v. Xiamen University,” it is evident that academic autonomy remains one of the contentious issues in the rule of law within higher education institutions. Relying solely on the self-management of academic autonomy within universities to resolve degree-related disputes is insufficient and cannot fundamentally address the conflict between students’ right to education and the autonomy of higher education institutions. Utilizing judicial power to examine procedural deficiencies in degree disputes is crucial for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of students and purifying the academic environment. In practice, academic autonomy and judicial review exhibit a relationship of interdependence, potential conflict, and balanced development. Clarifying their relationship, defining the nature of academic autonomy in judicial review, determining the limits and intensity of judicial review based on the core principles of academic autonomy, and implementing resolution mechanisms that emphasize both procedural and substantive reviews of academic autonomy can help address issues such as unclear factual determinations in judicial practice and insufficient enforcement of judgments.

With the development of the economy of the times, the phenomenon of buying houses in the real estate market is not uncommon, and its legal risks continue to emerge with policy regulation and debt disputes. This paper analyzes the validity of the borrowed name purchase contract, the ownership of real rights and the review standards of enforcement objections by borrowed names by combining judicial practice and academic disputes, and proposes to construct a judicial adjudication framework for borrowed house purchase disputes by improving the rules of evidence, balancing the publicity of real rights and factual real rights, and strengthening the enforcement objection review procedures, so as to safeguard the security of transactions and the legitimate rights and interests of the parties.

The doctor-patient relationship is a type of civil legal relationship. Under normal circumstances, it is a contractual relationship based on the complete free will of both parties. In this relationship, patients voluntarily seek medical assistance from doctors, who in turn willingly accept them as patients. As one of the most important interpersonal relationships, the doctor-patient relationship is characterized by mutual interdependence and inseparability. Doctors exist and grow because of patients, and medical science advances in response to diseases—without patients, doctors would lose the foundation of their professional survival. On the other hand, patients suffering from illnesses rely on doctors’ treatment to overcome diseases and regain health; without doctors’ professional help, the protection of patients’ health and lives would lack an effective safeguard. It can be said that patients are the “bread and butter” of doctors, while doctors are the messengers who help patients recover their health. Ideally, doctors and patients should maintain a relationship of mutual trust and harmonious coexistence. However, the conflicts in the doctor-patient relationship that have emerged in recent years have led to an increasing number of medical dispute cases, revealing that the tension between doctors and patients still persists. In recent years, hospitals across the country have adopted various measures to improve their technical standards and medical quality, and strengthen the management of medical safety. Nevertheless, medical disputes and controversies still occur from time to time. These incidents seriously disrupt the normal order of medical work and activities, damage the legitimate rights and interests of medical institutions, medical staff and patients, and also undermine social harmony and stability. To further enhance the effectiveness of preventing and resolving medical disputes, hospitals have been continuously exploring experience in dispute handling and promoting a diversified dispute resolution mechanism. Administrative mediation of medical disputes is an important channel for settling such conflicts, and it is bound to play an even greater role in resolving medical disputes.

Land registration plays a central role in Indonesia’s land administration system and is widely regarded as a primary instrument for achieving legal certainty. In judicial practice, however, land registration does not function merely as an administrative record but also as a crucial element in evidentiary assessment during land dispute resolution. Courts are frequently required to interpret the legal status of registered land certificates in relation to substantive land rights that may arise from possession, inheritance, contractual relations, or customary law, placing judicial interpretation at the intersection between administrative certainty and substantive justice. This article examines how Indonesian courts interpret land registration within the broader framework of legal protection for land rights holders. Using a normative juridical research method, the study analyzes statutory regulations governing land registration, legal doctrines concerning declarative and constitutive registration systems, and selected judicial decisions in land dispute cases. The analysis focuses on the manner in which judges balance the evidentiary value of land certificates with proof of substantive land relations. The findings demonstrate that Indonesian courts do not consistently treat land registration as absolute or conclusive proof of rights. While land certificates are generally regarded as strong administrative evidence, judicial reasoning often allows for recognition of substantively valid rights that predate or exist independently of registration. This approach reflects an implicit acknowledgment of the declarative nature of land registration, even when administrative practice tends toward formalism. The article argues that judicial interpretation plays a decisive role in preserving the protective function of land law by preventing administrative formalism from overriding substantive justice. Strengthening this interpretative approach is essential to ensure that land registration supports legal certainty without marginalizing legitimate land rights within Indonesia’s pluralistic agrarian legal framework.

The effective participation of duty counsel in the Plea Leniency System is crucial for safeguarding the legitimate rights of the accused and upholding judicial fairness. Since the revision of the Criminal Procedure Law in 2018, this mechanism has become an integral part of plea bargaining proceedings. However, multiple practical challenges persist. This paper argues that the core issue lies in the ambiguous role of duty counsel, who are not explicitly granted the status of defense counsel, resulting in a weak foundation for their procedural rights. Furthermore, inadequate protection of the right to access case files and the right to meet with clients in practice often reduces legal assistance to a mere formality. Additionally, a rigid subsidy mechanism fails to incentivize lawyers to deliver high-quality services. To address these shortcomings, this paper advocates for clarifying the defense counsel status of duty lawyers, systematically establishing pathways to secure their core rights, and implementing a flexible incentive system linked to workload and service quality. Such measures would enhance the effectiveness of their participation, strengthen institutional credibility, and ensure the system functions as intended.

The current stage of development in Russian criminal procedure law is characterized by the search for optimal solutions to the problems facing criminal proceedings, including ensuring the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of crime victims. In this regard, the views of procedural law scholars and practitioners are increasingly turning to the mediation procedure, used in other types of legal proceedings, which allows for the settlement of disputes between parties on a mutually acceptable basis. At the same time, the experience of several CIS member states (the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Belarus, and the Republic of Kyrgyzstan), which have introduced mediation into criminal proceedings is of interest. Purpose: based on a comprehensive analysis of Federal Law No. 193-FZ of July 27, 2010, “On Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures with the Participation of a Mediator (Mediation Procedure)”, and the current Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, as well as the legislation of the CIS member states that use mediation procedures in criminal proceedings, to study the prospects for introducing this procedure in the national criminal procedure and to propose ways to improve the legislation in this area. Methods: comparative law (used in the study of the criminal procedure legislation of the CIS member states); formal and dialectical logic (these methods are used to investigate the interrelationships between phenomena and to formulate general conclusions); interpretation of legal norms (applied to clarify the meaning of legal provisions and to address existing gaps). Results: the study concludes that it is possible to extend mediation procedures to criminal proceedings, provided that appropriate amendments are made to both the law governing mediation in general and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. The study also formulates specific proposals for improving the current legislation, taking into account the experience of some CIS member states.

When it comes to justice in criminal matters, the Romanian legislator adapted to the doctrinal and jurisprudential requirements that raised the double degree of jurisdiction at the principle level. Thus, in the current regulation of Law 135/2010, it provides that they have the right to promote the appeal, the following persons: the prosecutor; the defendant; the civil party and the party with civil liability; the injured person; the witness, the expert, the interpreter and the lawyer; any natural or legal person whose legitimate rights have been violated by an act or a measure of the court; but also their representatives and procedural substitutes. This study aims to achieve a vision on the rights of persons interested in exercising the appeal both on the criminal side, but also on the civil side following actions, respectively inactions.

With the rapid development of digital technology, red publications are encountering new opportunities and challenges in terms of dissemination. This study focuses on optimizing the interaction design and constructing copyright protection mechanisms for red publications in a digital environment, aiming to enhance their influence and dissemination effectiveness among young people while preventing potential copyright risks associated with digital distribution. By analyzing the current state of red publications in terms of content presentation, user experience, and copyright management, and integrating digital media theory and related copyright protection systems, a dual approach combining interaction design and technical safeguards is proposed. In terms of interaction design, the focus is on a user-centered approach, improving content readability, interactivity, and emotional resonance; for copyright protection, the feasibility of technologies such as blockchain and digital watermarking in preventing illegal distribution and tampering is examined. Practice has shown that reasonable interaction design can effectively increase user engagement, and multilayered copyright protection benefits the legitimate rights and interests of content creators. The research outcomes provide theoretical support and practical reference for the digital transformation and sustainable dissemination of red cultural resources, and in the future, technologies such as artificial intelligence can further expand the possibilities of red publications in smart reading and cross-platform distribution.

The protection of the rights of vulnerable subjects is a requirement for all nations. This reflects the function and role of the State towards society, contributing to maintaining social stability and development, and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of vulnerable subjects within society. In Vietnam, the protection of the civil rights of subjects belonging to the vulnerable group is ensured through multiple mechanisms, including the mechanism of civil litigation. Vietnamese law is currently being perfected to ensure that subjects within the political system responsibly exercise the right to initiate civil lawsuits to protect the civil rights of vulnerable subjects in practice.

Climate change stands as a critical issue for global sustainable development, prompting nations worldwide to enact climate governance policies in response to this challenge. However, the ambiguous delineation of host countries' regulatory authority under International Investment Agreements (IIAs), coupled with arbitration tribunals' tendency to prioritize protecting investors' legitimate expectations, creates practical dilemmas. This, combined with the sudden and differentiated nature of host country’s regulatory measures, frequently leads to frequent climate-related investment disputes. The conflict between host states and investors over the duty of reasonable expectations arising from the fair and equitable treatment standard under IIAs is increasingly prominent. Harmonizing investor rights protection with climate objectives has become a critical issue requiring urgent resolution. This study finds that to advance global climate governance objectives, IIA reform must establish a multi-stakeholder responsibility framework balancing public and private interests of host countries and investors. Arbitration practice should incorporate review mechanisms and clarify reasonable expectations standards to promote equitable adjudication. Host countries must maintain stability in domestic investment policy and safeguard international investors' legitimate rights to ensure sustainable development. Ultimately, efforts should strive to achieve a balance between investors' reasonable expectations and host countries' climate regulatory authority.

Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) (has been established as the world's inaugural climate-related trade regulatory measure. The imposition of levies on carbon-intensive products entering the European Union (EU) market is intended to prevent carbon leakage and serve as a complementary scheme to the EU Emissions Trading System, thereby ensuring a level competitive playing field between domestic and foreign enterprises. However, it has been alleged that this practice may potentially contravene legal principles. The present paper employs a dual-pronged approach of literature review and legal text analysis to elucidate the conflicts between CBAM and the ‘common area principle’ in climate governance, as well as its inconsistencies with World Trade Organization (WTO) and most-favored-nation (MNF) treatment principles. The proposal sets out China’s response strategies from both domestic and international perspectives. Internally, the strategy involves refining the legal framework for carbon markets and exploring the potential for domestic carbon tax legislation. Externally, it advocates for the effective utilization of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism to safeguard the legitimate rights of export enterprises. The objective of this paper is to furnish a reference point for China's response to CBAM.

In Vietnam, legal interpretation has traditionally been the responsibility of legislative bodies. Only recently have courts been given the authority to interpret the law in the course of its application. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly, however, provides very limited guidance, and judicial interpretation remains underdeveloped due to the lack of a comprehensive legal framework. At the same time, legal interpretation is carried out by various actors, including the Government, ministries, and committees responsible for drafting or implementing legal documents. This fragmented practice creates inconsistencies between statutory provisions, their enforcement, and the practical need for authoritative interpretation. As a result, the effectiveness and accountability of the courts are undermined, the legitimate rights and interests of individuals may be affected, and the broader goals of judicial reform aimed at consolidating the rule of law are hindered. Current challenges concern public perceptions, legal provisions on competent authorities and subjects, and procedural mechanisms. Reforming legal interpretation is therefore essential, with a focus on improving the legal framework and the quality of judicial interpretation to strengthen court effectiveness, enhance accountability, and reduce the risk of overreach by other actors.

The rapid development of digital technology has led to the creation of numerous online works generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) on various platforms. The emergence of these works brings about challenges to traditional copyright protection. Traditional copyright aims to protect the legitimate rights and interests that individuals enjoy over their intellectual achievements, while AI mainly relies on algorithms. Issues such as the ownership of rights, infringement determination, and the degree of protection of works all need to be addressed. This review explores the copyright disputes involved in works generated by AI, including compliance issues, ownership issues and infringement determination. Moreover, corresponding feasible countermeasures for such issues will be discussed. Under no circumstances should the creation of works be based on laws. Nowadays, a work cannot exist independently without the support of vast amounts of data. Clearly distinguishing the attributes of works generated by AI plays an important role. This not only promotes the improvement of the legal theoretical framework in the field of intellectual property rights under the impact of AI, but also protects the legitimate rights of authors. And it conforms to the trend of the law and big data keeping pace with modern society.

The principle of legitimate expectation protection is an important rule in maritime law enforcement, which aims to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of ships and crew members, and promote maritime safety and order. With the development of global trade and the shipping industry, maritime law enforcement issues have become increasingly prominent, making the principle of legitimate expectation protection a key to solving these problems. From a jurisprudential perspective, this paper conducts a study on the principle of legitimate expectation protection in maritime law enforcement. Starting with the current situation of maritime law enforcement at home and abroad, it analyzes the jurisprudential basis and practical significance of legitimate expectation protection, explores its practical application in maritime law enforcement, and puts forward legal suggestions for improving the principle in light of the legal problems faced by current maritime law enforcement.

With the development of information technology, digital currency has become increasingly familiar as a new type of financial tool. While it boosts the transaction rate, it also brings some hidden dangers. This article focuses on the risk analysis and response strategies of digital currencies. A case study is used to analyze the long-term risk of digital currency and propose countermeasures, summarizing the risks and measures. The decentralized nature of digital currencies is essentially different from that of traditional financial instruments. By analyzing the impact of digital currencies on financial stability, this study explores their risks and the adaptability of their response strategies to the financial regulatory system, starting from technical, market, and legal regulatory aspects, to provide references and suggestions for subsequent related academic research. From the perspective of market participants, this study analyzes the specific manifestations of technical and market risks of digital currencies, which can provide investors with a clear analysis, help them judge the investment value, reduce blind investment behavior, protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors, and maintain the order of the digital currency market.

In today’s digital economy, the rapid development of platform economies is posing new challenges to traditional regulatory models. Foreign platform regulations, represented by those of the European Union, in fact protect three types of legal interests: the public interest, the legitimate rights and interests of competitors, and the legal interests of trading partners. They also balance two different types of legal relationships: competitive relationship and transactional relationship. This provides useful lessons for the healthy and orderly development of platform economies. China’s current Anti-Monopoly Law and Anti-Unfair Competition Law mainly focus on protecting competitive relationships. Although the E-Commerce Law does cover transactional relationships to some extent, it is limited by the context of its time and cannot keep up with the rapid development of new types of online services in the mobile internet era. To better protect the legitimate rights and interests of parties in platform economy transactions and to promote the sustainable and healthy development of platform economies, it is necessary to further highlight the principle of protecting fair trading in the general provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. Based on transactional relationships, all platform online transactions and services should be included in a comprehensive regulatory system. A more scientific and rational legal framework for platform regulation should be built to promote high-quality development of China’s platform economy on the track of the rule of law.