Norm Enforcement Research Articles

The age of consequences: Unraveling conflict's impact on social preferences, norm enforcement, and risk-taking

Beyond the direct destructive nature of war, conflict may also impact social preferences, norms, and risk-taking behavior. This paper examines the enduring impact of conflict on preferences and behavior by studying different versions of public goods games conducted nearly two decades after the Rwandan genocide, leveraging variation in radio reception among villages in 1994, which determined exposure to hate-propaganda messages inciting conflict. Results indicate that communities exposed to greater violence exhibit increased cooperation, active punishment, and risk-taking. Exploiting the heterogeneity in participants' ages of conflict experience, enhanced cooperation is entirely driven by those who were children during the genocide, while norm enforcement through punishment and reward is more prominent among older individuals. Risk-taking increases are observed across all age groups. The results allow for a reassessment of previous research and highlight the psychological imprint of conflict exposure in line with the literature on early childhood development.

Pelaksanaan Tanggung Jawab Nakhoda Kapal atas Kerusakan Kapal dalam Pengangkutan Penumpang Antar Wilayah Kabupaten Natuna di Pelabuhan Rakyat Midai

Purpose: There is a problem that occurred in Natuna Regency where a ship experienced engine damage, causing the ship to come to a halt in the middle of the sea and leaving passengers stranded at sea for an extended period. This situation can be hazardous and poses a risk to maritime safety. During disasters such as ship sinking, grounding, or fires, the risk to passenger safety increases. The high demand for facilities and infrastructure in passenger transportation should be a top priority. This research was conducted with the aim of determining the captain's responsibility for passenger safety to prevent any negligence on the part of the skipper. Methodology/approach: The Normative-Empirical Law research method involves understanding law in terms of norms (rules) and the application of legal rules in actual behavior resulting from the enforcement of legal norms. The captain is required to adhere to all applicable rules and regu lations to ensure the ship's navigability, safety of the vessel, passenger safety, and cargo. The skipper is not permitted to embark on a journey unless the ship is adequately equipped and prepared, as referred to in Article 343 of the Criminal Code. Results/findings: Regarding the implementation of the captain's responsibility for ship damage during passenger transportation within the Natuna Regency area, the captain pays more attention to the operational conditions of the ship to avoid issues related to ship damage. Additionally, the sub-district head of Midai is advised to be more selective in transferring responsibility to the skipper of the KM Fisabilillah 1 ship.

The legitimacy of international law: challenges and the emerging issues

Within academic conversations surrounding traditional international relations inquiry exists an ongoing debate around whether or not we can consider international law legitimate given certain challenges it faces as an operational system. Despite playing vital roles in promoting cooperative relationships between states while also providing frameworks for dispute resolution strategies which sustain global stability over time, issues surrounding authority often call into question its capacity as a legit kindred institution. Enforcement mechanisms simply aren't as centralized or standardized as it is in other legal systems, while other arguments deal with state sovereignty limitations. Supporters argue that legitimacy stems from state consent and supportive treaty obligations, combined with legal precedent set by former decisions. This reliance on factors such as "opinio juris" (shared belief both within and outside of state power circles) is considered an important part of creating enforceable norms on equal footing. The paper aims at understanding the legitimacy of international laws especially considering the emerging issues in the international relations. With this objective, the paper adopts the theory of liberal institutionalism, where it states that the international system requires the existence of a system that will governs its affairs. With states as the main actors in the international system, international law is seen as a product of collective decision-making, where states voluntarily agree to abide by certain rules and obligations. The paper concludes that apart from the challenges to the legitimacy of international law, there are emerging issues like cybersecurity, climate change, evolving nature of the international law which are seeing as factors that pose difficulties to the legitimacy of international law.

Socialisation approach to AI value acquisition: enabling flexible ethical navigation with built-in receptiveness to social influence

AbstractThis article describes an alternative starting point for embedding human values into artificial intelligence (AI) systems. As applications of AI become more versatile and entwined with society, an ever-wider spectrum of considerations must be incorporated into their decision-making. However, formulating less-tangible human values into mathematical algorithms appears incredibly challenging. This difficulty is understandable from a viewpoint that perceives human moral decisions to primarily stem from intuition and emotional dispositions, rather than logic or reason. Our innate normative judgements promote prosocial behaviours which enable collaboration within a shared environment. Individuals internalise the values and norms of their social context through socialisation. The complexity of the social environment makes it impractical to consistently apply logic to pick the best available action. This has compelled natural agents to develop mental shortcuts and rely on the collective moral wisdom of the social group. This work argues that the acquisition of human values cannot happen just through rational thinking, and hence, alternative approaches should be explored. Designing receptiveness to social signalling can provide context-flexible normative guidance in vastly different life tasks. This approach would approximate the human trajectory for value learning, which requires social ability. Artificial agents that imitate socialisation would prioritise conformity by minimising detected or expected disapproval while associating relative importance with acquired concepts. Sensitivity to direct social feedback would especially be useful for AI that possesses some embodied physical or virtual form. Work explores the necessary faculties for social norm enforcement and the ethical challenges of navigating based on the approval of others.

Institutional Wage Principles

This article discusses the basic sectoral principle of labor law, which ensures the right of employees to pay wages. An attempt was made to formulate institutional principles of wages, analyze the norms of law, law enforcement and judicial practice, and formulate proposals for improving labor legislation.

Agricultural Land Rights Confirmation, Clan Network, and Farmers’ Investment in Production and Operation

This study is based on micro-survey data on rural household transfers in China. This study uses a multiple linear regression model (to analyze the relationship between variables), an instrumental variable model (to solve potential endogenous problems), and an intermediary effect model to explore the impact of farmland rights confirmation and clan network on farmers’ investment in production and operation and the relationship between clan network confirmation of farmland rights and farmer household investment. The research shows that: (1) The confirmation of farmland rights in China substantially bolsters farmers’ investments in agricultural production and operation. It serves as a secure foundation for land property rights, elevating farmers’ confidence and significantly contributing to the growth of rural economies and the improvement of farmers’ income levels in the Chinese context. (2) In the Chinese context, the existence of clan networks exerts a discernible adverse influence on farmers’ investment decisions in agricultural production and operation. This is primarily attributable to the restricted flow of information within these networks, the enforcement of stringent social norms, and the prevalence of risk-averse attitudes. These factors collectively act as barriers, dampening farmers’ enthusiasm for investment and impeding effective decision-making. (3) Importantly, the confirmation of agricultural land rights in China serves as a counterbalance to the inhibitory effects of clan networks. It achieves this by mitigating information asymmetry and reducing cooperation risks. This proactive approach not only promotes but also facilitates farmers’ investments in agricultural production and operation within the Chinese context. Consequently, land rights confirmation emerges as a key driver of increased rural investments in China. This study conducts in-depth research on the impact of farmland ownership confirmation and clan networks on farmers’ investment behavior and the mechanism of action, which provides a useful reference for formulating relevant policies, such as increasing the authority of cultivated land, promoting the modernization of clan networks, cultivating modern management capabilities, etc.

Co-evolution of conditional cooperation and social norm

The co-evolution of conditional cooperation and social norms has garnered significant attention, yet the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Social norms result from empirical expectations, individual expectations of group behavior, and normative expectations, the population's expectations of individual behavior. Aligning these expectations aids in norm formation, but diverse individual reactions to observed behavior and their sensitivity to norm conformity can be challenging. In our study, the agents are initially endowed with diverse conditional expectations, which mirror their anticipations regarding group behavior and their inherent inclination to conform to social norms, indicative of their sensitivity to psychic costs. These agents engage in a repeated public goods game, where their decisions to cooperate are shaped by their conditional expectations and the observed levels of cooperation within their group. Concurrently, free riders experience psychic costs determined by the overall level of cooperation, contribution costs, and the individual’s inclination to adhere to social norms. Remarkably, our simulations unveil that agents commencing with random conditional expectations and a propensity to conform to norms can adapt to lower conditional expectations and moderate their propensity to conform to norms when initial cooperation levels are high and the contribution cost is reduced. Interestingly, increasing contribution costs intensify the population’s response to norm enforcement, but this doesn’t always result in a corresponding increase in cooperation. By incorporating population diversity and accounting for empirical and normative expectations within our model, we gain valuable insights into the intricate relationship between conditional cooperation and the emergence of social norms.

Polarize, catalyze, and stabilize: how a minority of norm internalizers amplify group selection and punishment

Many mechanisms behind the evolution of cooperation, such as reciprocity, indirect reciprocity, and altruistic punishment, require group knowledge of individual actions. But what keeps people cooperating when no one is looking? Conformist norm internalization, the tendency to abide by the behavior of the majority of the group, even when it is individually harmful, could be the answer. In this paper, we analyze a world where (1) there is group selection and punishment by indirect reciprocity, but (2) many actions (half) go unobserved and therefore unpunished. Can norm internalization fill this “observation gap” and lead to high levels of cooperation, even when agents may in principle cooperate only when likely to be caught and punished? Specifically, we seek to understand whether adding norm internalization to the strategy space in a public goods game can lead to higher levels of cooperation when both norm internalization and cooperation start out rare. We found the answer to be positive, but, interestingly, not because norm internalizers end up making up a substantial fraction of the population, nor because they cooperate much more than other agent types. Instead, norm internalizers, by polarizing, catalyzing, and stabilizing cooperation, can increase levels of cooperation of other agent types, while only making up a minority of the population themselves.Significance statementWhat keeps people cooperating when no one is looking? Group selection favoring cooperative groups does not require observers, but often works best when there is some other norm enforcement mechanism to supplement it. But most norm enforcement mechanisms require observers in order to function. Here, we examine whether norm internalization could fill this enforcement gap, by acting as an “internal enforcer” of norms. Perhaps surprisingly, we discovered in our simulations that the population of norm internalizers always remained quite small, and norm internalizers did not necessarily cooperate more than other agent types. Nevertheless, under certain conditions, they were able to spark significantly higher mean levels of cooperation, by causing other agents to cooperate more—partly by setting off bouts of high cooperation after periods of very low cooperation, and partly by helping maintain those bouts of high cooperation for longer.

Limitations of the right to environmental information

The article is devoted to the theoretical and legal analysis of the provisions on the openness of environmental information and restrictions on the right to access such information established in international and national legislation. Considered, in particular, norms enshrined in universal and regional international acts, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the Constitution of Ukraine, current laws of Ukraine. In addition, the limitations of access to information about the environment in the conditions of martial law were analyzed. The relevance of the chosen topic lies in the presence of competing norms in the legislation, which relate to the limitation of the entire array of information and information about the state of the environment as a separate part of it. The purpose of this article is to analyze the legislation that regulates the restriction of access to environmental information, its application in practice.To achieve the goal, the author used such methods as: analysis, synthesis, interpretation and comparative law. The results of the study are as follows: today, in the field of international law, there are still restrictions on the right to access environmental information. Such restrictions are legislated in national legislation and basically repeat the norms of international conventions. However, on a practical level, even under martial law, the right to access environmental information remains unrestricted by any additional legislation. In 
 this regard, a significant transformation is noticeable in the law enforcement of norms that enshrine human informational environmental rights, since only the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in the Decision-Making Process and Access to Justice on Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) reflects modern trends in legal understanding of the outlined issue, while the norms in the universal international acts adopted in the 40s and 50s are morally outdated.

Emotions as the Enforcers of Norms

Personal and social norms are well-established predictors of proenvironmental behavior, and past research often discusses the motivational properties of different norms. However, less research has examined how individuals feel after conforming to, or deviating from, a norm. We suggest that emotions may function as norm enforcement tools that reward conformity and punish deviance. As a starting point, we outline the emotions that individuals may experience when conforming to, or deviating from, different norms (i.e., personal norms, descriptive social norms, injunctive social norms), and how these emotions can influence proenvironmental behavior. More research is needed to clarify how emotions facilitate, and possibly mediate, the influence of norms on proenvironmental behavior.

Post-Diversity, Precarious Work for All: Unmaking borders to govern labour in the Amazon warehouse

This paper investigates the (un)making of borders as a form of labour governmentality in one of Amazon’s warehouses in Poland. Guided by a critical theory of borders as a form of labour governmentality under global capitalism, we identify organizational practices through which socio-demographic categories traditionally deployed as principles of organizing work (e.g., gender, age, ability) are unmade: the management of deskilled labour through an algorithmic system, the non-selective hiring of workers, the enforcement of social norms of interpersonal respect and a universal system of casualized employment. Together, these practices constitute workers as undifferentiated, interchangeable and equal labour, let them compete with each other under harshly exploitative conditions, and continuously dispose of the least productive among them, keeping all in structural uncertainty. The study contributes to the critical diversity literature by showing a ‘post-diversity’ governmentality that rests on equality, competition and precarization of labour as a whole, rather than segregation and marginalization through an ‘ideal worker’ norm. This labour governmentality operates by eliciting consent from historically subordinated workers and eliminating the advantage of historically relatively privileged ones. Unmaking borders within labour inside the organization, this governmentality at the same time crucially rests on borders outside it.

Opening the World Court to the International Community: an Empirical Analysis of Non-party Participation in the International Court of Justice

Abstract Over the last decades, the participation of State and non-State actors (NSAs) in the process of international law-making has become one of the basic features of international law. As multifunctional actors, the role of international courts and tribunals (ICTs) encompasses the protection and development of the international community. Together with ICTs’ role in the promotion, recognition and application of community interest norms, the growing participation of State and NSAs in international dispute settlement mechanisms also plays an increasingly important role in ensuring and facilitating compliance and enforcement of community interest norms. Whereas the non-party participation of State and NSAs has only very exceptionally been recognized, their influence in international dispute settlement cannot be ignored. By applying empirical research methodology for mapping the practice of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the participation of State and NSAs under the ICJ Statute and Rules of Court, this paper addresses the existing mechanisms of non-party participation in both contentious cases and advisory proceedings. There is no doubt that ICJ procedural law remains outdated and disconnected from the contemporary developments characterizing the international community nowadays. Broadening the possibilities for participation by State and NSAs would imply the recognition of the plurilateral nature of international disputes. In this context, the paper also discusses the challenges and possible alternatives for expanding participation via teleological interpretation of the ICJ Statute and potential amendments to the Rules of Court and Practice Directions.

Implikasi Hukum Pembentukan Peraturan Pelaksana Pasca Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Atas Pengujian Undang-Undang No. 11 Tahun 2020 Tentang Cipta Kerja

This study aims to examine the legal status and binding force of the Implementing Regulations enacted and analyze the legal implications of the formation of Implementing Regulations post-Constitutional Court Decision No. 91/PUU-XVIII/2020. The research method used is empirical with data collection through literature review, interviews, and supporting theories. The data analysis technique employed is descriptive qualitative. The results of the study indicate that the formation of three Implementing Regulations after Constitutional Court Decision No. 91/PUU-XVIII/2020 in the context of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation lacks legal status and binding force in the enforcement of norms. Moreover, Constitutional Court Decision No. 91/PUU-XVIII/2020, which examined the formal aspects of Law No. 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation, has wide-ranging implications. Through its decision, the Constitutional Court, particularly in point 7, suspends actions or strategic policies with broad impacts and prohibits the issuance of implementing regulations.

LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE ACTIVITIES OF BODIES AND INSTITUTIONS OF THE STATE CRIMINAL AND EXECUTIVE SERVICE OF UKRAINE

The article examines the issue of one of the forms of implementation of legal norms of law enforcement in the system of the State Criminal and Executive Service of Ukraine. Theoretical and practical problems of application of legal norms, cases and conditions of this activity are analyzed. It is emphasized that the application of legal norms by employees of bodies and institutions of the State Criminal and Executive Service of Ukraine is a creative activity that stems from the legal status of the service, duties and rights of the rank and file. High-quality implementation of this form of realization of legal norms requires perfect legal training and substantial knowledge of law enforcement officers. Key words: implementation of the law, application of the law, State Criminal and Executive Service of Ukraine, rank and file, law enforcement activity, cases of law enforcement.

Nudging enforcers: how norm perceptions and motives for lying shape sanctions.

We conduct three studies, employing diverse methodologies (a behavioral experiment, a vignette experiment, and a norm elicitation experiment), to investigate when and how norm enforcement patterns can be modified using norm interventions in the context of dishonesty. Our preregistered, three-part data collection effort explores the extent to which norm violations are sanctioned, the impact of norm-nudges on punishment behavior, and the connection to norm perception. Using a representative sample of US participants in Study 1, we present robust evidence that norm enforcement is sensitive not only to the magnitude of the observed transgression (i.e. the size of the lie) but also to its consequences (whether the lie addresses or creates payoff inequalities). We also find that norm enforcers respond to norm-nudges conveying social information about actual lying behavior or its social disapproval. The results of a separate vignette experiment in Study 2 are consistent with the results in our behavioral experiment, thus hinting at the generalizability of our findings. To understand the interplay of norms, information about them, and punishment, we examine norm perceptions across different transgressions in Study 3. We find that norm perceptions are malleable and norm-nudges are most effective when preexisting norms are ambiguous. In sum, we show how norm enforcement can be nudged and which factors matter for doing so across various contexts and discuss their policy implications.

“Intervening Is a Good Thing but . . .”: The Role of Social Norms in Users’ Justifications of (Non-)Intervention Against Incivility

User intervention against incivility as social enforcement of democratic norms on social media platforms is considered an act of “good citizenship” by citizens and scholars alike. However, between ideals and behavior, multiple social norms are at play in shaping individuals’ sense of personal responsibility for intervening. This study explores the role of conflicting norms in situations requiring user intervention against online incivility. By combining the perspectives of norms as expectations and norms as cultural vocabularies, we investigate users’ salient norms, and how these norms influence users’ justifications for (non-)intervention. Based on qualitative interview data from Germany ( N = 20), we identified three distinct reasoning patterns employed to justify (non-)intervention: the pragmatic, the dismissive, and the aspirational. By identifying fault lines, our typology points to normative origins of ambivalence related to user intervention. The findings offer insights into strategies to motivate intervention against online incivility.

Legislative Framework of the Crime of Torture in the Regulation and Jurisdiction of Slovenia

The article aims to explore the Slovenian regime on the crime of torture by presenting the genesis of the Slovenian incrimination of torture and its adequacy in the light of international law. The overview of the Slovenian legislative framework and case law involving the crime of torture begins with a presentation of the relevant international and national legal acts. This is followed by an analysis of the content of the relevant provisions in the Slovenian Constitution and in the Criminal Code, which is examined considering the international legal sources that bind Slovenia. By closely examining the genesis and the content of incrimination of torture, as it is known in the Slovenian Criminal Code, the article presents to foreign readers and the international professional audience the specific features of Slovenian incrimination of torture and its deviations from the international legal framework. In the following, the sanction system and the actors in the process of enforcement of particular norms aiming at the crime of torture are presented. The article concludes with an analysis of the case law on torture. Slovenian courts have not yet encountered the crime of torture. Therefore, the focus is on Slovenia’s convictions before the European Court of Human Rights for violation of Art. 3 of the Convention on Human Rights.

Strengths of social ties modulate brain computations for third-party punishment

Costly punishment of social norm transgressors by third-parties has been considered as a decisive stage in the evolution of human cooperation. An important facet of social relationship knowledge concerns the strength of the social ties between individuals, as measured by social distance. Yet, it is unclear how the enforcement of social norms is influenced by the social distance between a third-party and a norm violator at the behavioral and the brain system levels. Here, we investigated how social distance between punishers and norm-violators influences third-party punishment. Participants as third-party punished norm violators more severely as social distance between them increased. Using model-based fMRI, we disentangled key computations contributing to third-party punishment: inequity aversion, social distance between participant and norm violator and integration of the cost to punish with these signals. Inequity aversion increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and bilateral insula, and processing social distance engaged a bilateral fronto-parietal cortex brain network. These two brain signals and the cost to punish were integrated in a subjective value signal of sanctions that modulated activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Together, our results reveal the neurocomputational underpinnings of third-party punishment and how social distance modulates enforcement of social norms in humans.

Social capital is associated with cooperation and indirect norm enforcement in the field: behavioural evidence from Switzerland

Abstract Social capital, comprising networks, generalized trust, and cooperation norms, is often considered a key factor in promoting prosperity and cooperation. Informal norm enforcement also drives cooperation. While early theories of social capital and norm enforcement propose that networks encourage sanctions, strong reciprocity theory argues that sanctioning non-cooperation is a universal preference. In the lab, people uphold cooperation through sanctions without networks, but this occurs only in regions characterized by high trust levels and strong cooperation norms outside the laboratory. Are trust, cooperation, and enforcement linked in the field, and if so, what are the generative mechanisms? In two neighbourhoods of Bern, one high in social capital and one low, we linked indicators of social capital and expected norm compliance from resident surveys (N = 466) with cooperation, measured with the lost-letter technique (N = 240), and norm enforcement, measured with reactions to transgressions of the antilittering norm (N = 123). Cooperation and indirect enforcement were more prevalent in the high social capital neighbourhood. Direct enforcement was rare in both neighbourhoods. The less optimistic expectations of cooperation and norm compliance prevalent in the low social capital neighbourhood can potentially explain the lower levels of cooperation and norm enforcement.

The court as a subject of judicial law-making in the civil justice system of Ukraine

The practice of scientific research in the field of civil procedural law shows that scientists quite often direct their research to substantive procedural legal institutions, paying little attention to the seemingly invisible work of judges, who perform not only organizational functions aimed at researching evidence and evaluating it, but also engage in law enforcement activities with the aim of achieving accuracy in the regulation of disputed relations by legal norms. This question is one of the most important and at the same time the most difficult in justice. This work is dedicated to this issue. Today, the law enforcement practice of courts of general jurisdiction more and more often goes beyond the mechanical enforcement of legal norms, which has always been characteristic of the positivist theory of law. Continental law, which is based on this theory, presupposes, and hence the stability of statutory law, which covers all legislative acts without exception. Such stability was observed in Europe from the 18th century to the end of the first half of the 20th century. Since that time, social relations caused by the rapid development of science, technology, information technologies, globalization of the economy, migration processes began to significantly outpace the law-making capabilities of the legislator, who objectively does not have time to regulate more and more new relations that arise in society every day. Thus, justice both in European countries and in our country is more and more often faced with the fact that certain social relations are not regulated by legal norms or are regulated incompletely, vaguely or inconsistently. This means that a number of legislative acts have some or other legislative gaps, which the legislator has no real opportunity to promptly eliminate. Thus, law enforcement courts begin to resort to judicial law-making, thereby overcoming existing legislative gaps.The article examines the mechanism of legal interpretation and the peculiarities of establishing legal analogies, during which a certain level of legal novelty occurs in such processes, which characterizes judicial law-making from the point of view of judicial practice.