Precautionary Principle Research Articles

CHALLENGES OF TECHNOLOGIZING TEACHING AND LEARNING AT UNIVERSITY

This narrative review addresses the challenge posed by the widespread extensive use of digital tools, i.e., technologization, in university education, highlighting three aspects. First, an overuse of digital tools by teachers is discussed, particularly slideware as the most frequently used technology. Concerns are raised as to how effective an extensive use of such a technology is in promoting learning. Additionally, the impact of electronic devices used by students, especially smartphones, is reviewed, and the decrease in comprehension and academic performance associated with reading digital texts and writing on digital media compared to printed format is highlighted. Finally, the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically the ChatGPT language model, in education is discussed, addressing both its potential benefits and ethical and educational challenges. The integration and promotion of AI tools in education pose additional challenges, such as environmental impact, digital distractions, and educational exclusion. A need for a balanced approach which follows the precautionary principle is emphasized, so educational institutions take preventive action to protect individuals and the environment, as well as to avoid potential harm when scientific evidence about an activity or technology is uncertain or incomplete. The text underscores the importance of raising awareness about responsible use of technology in education and advocates for a critical and reflective approach in its application so Sustainable Development Goals may be achieved.

Legal Implications of Deep Seabed Mining on the Sustainability of the Blue Economy in Indonesia

This research examines the legal implications of deep seabed mining on blue economy sustainability. Indonesia, as an archipelagic country, has enormous marine potential that needs to be managed with a blue economy approach to support sustainable economic growth and community welfare. This research uses a normative legal method with a statutory approach to analyze various related regulations. The results show that deep seabed mining can make a significant contribution to the economy, especially through the extraction of minerals such as nickel, copper and cobalt. However, this activity also poses serious environmental risks, including damage to marine ecosystems and increased carbon emissions that impact climate change. Therefore, a comprehensive and sustainable regulatory framework is needed, integrating blue economy and precautionary principles to ensure that the exploitation of deep-sea resources is carried out responsibly and sustainably.

Application of the Precautionary Approach to the Management of Marine Mammals in northern Canada

Application of the Precautionary Approach to the Management of Marine Mammals in northern Canada

The awkward relations between EU innovation policies and environmental law

AbstractThe European Union is actively advancing the green and digital transformation of its industries by seeking to integrate disruptive and novel technologies to enhance efficiency in existing production lines. However, the introduction of these technologies, pivotal for this transformation, has encountered challenges within the current regulatory framework. This article systematically examines the legal framework to understand how authorisation procedures, influenced by environmental legislation interpreted in conjunction with the precautionary principle, might hinder the adoption of disruptive and novel technologies. Additionally, the article evaluates the effectiveness of experimentation rules, such as legal sandboxes, in addressing scientific uncertainties linked to these technologies. Despite tensions between innovation policies and environmental regulations, embracing the precautionary principle in decision‐making procedures could facilitate the adoption of sustainable innovations while prioritising long‐term environmental and societal well‐being.

Assessing the potential for seaweed cultivation in EU seas through an integrated modelling approach

The potential of large-scale seaweed cultivation to contribute to achieving ambitious EU-wide objectives, such as food security, energy independence, carbon neutrality and ecosystems restoration, is widely recognized. However, there is a lack of information on the suitability of EU marine regions for the installation of floating macro-algae cultivation infrastructures. In this study, we utilize the World Offshore Macro Algae Production Potential (WOMAPP) model in conjunction with state-of-the-art coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical models, to assess the environmental suitability of EU marine regions for seaweed cultivation. Our analysis reveals that the EU Atlantic regions are the most suitable areas for seaweed cultivation, particularly for cold-water and intermediate-water species. The potential cultivation area is extensive, spanning over 1 million km2, and even taking a precautionary approach by occupying only 1% of that area could yield a yearly production of over 30 million tonnes dry weight. Adding logistical constraints (water depth and distance to coast) further limit the potential production to 5 million tonnes per year, only considering EU member states' waters. Furthermore, we discuss the opportunity to use integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), to increase the potential for seaweed cultivation.

Environmental Ethics and the Philosophy of Sustainability

Purpose: The general objective of this study was to explore environmental ethics and the philosophy of sustainability. Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library. Findings: The findings reveal that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to environmental ethics and the philosophy of sustainability. Preliminary empirical review revealed that integrating ethical principles into sustainability practices was essential for achieving long-term ecological balance and social justice. It found that environmental ethics provided a necessary moral framework, encouraging proactive environmental protection and fostering sustainable behaviors through education. However, the study also identified gaps in current practices, noting that many policies still prioritized short-term economic gains over ecological health. The research emphasized the importance of bridging these gaps by developing comprehensive frameworks that blend ethical principles with practical sustainability strategies, ultimately underscoring the critical role of environmental ethics in realizing the philosophy of sustainability. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Deep Ecology Theory, The Land Ethic and Social Ecology Theory may be used to anchor future studies on the philosophy of sustainability. The study highlighted the need for an integrated theoretical model combining ethical principles with sustainability practices, and suggested incorporating diverse philosophical perspectives. It emphasized embedding environmental ethics into organizational cultures and education curricula to foster sustainable practices and behaviors. The study also advocated for integrating ethical dimensions into policy frameworks and adopting the precautionary principle in environmental policymaking to safeguard against unforeseen impacts. These recommendations aimed to advance theoretical discourse, guide practical sustainability efforts, and inform robust, equitable environmental policies.

Criminal Liability of a Notary for Violation of The Principle of Precaution

Criminal Liability of a Notary for Violation of The Principle of Precaution

Adding the risk of stock collapse over time to stock assessments and harvest allocation decisions

Abstract Globally, many fisheries have experienced collapse even though most of these fisheries had management plans with harvest control rules and were supported by scientific modelling that explicitly accounted for uncertainty. Recognizing that an informed decision on risks of a stock collapse versus harvest is only possible when the outcomes of the technical measures are described explicitly. We propose that the cumulative probability of stock collapse over a range of harvest levels would provide a perspective of the future consequences of harvesting decisions. Adding to the harvest level negotiations the consideration of how long a fishery should sustain the livelihoods of fishers may provide managers, fishers, and other stakeholders with a more tangible understanding of the risks within the context of precautionary principles in decision-making. We use a time series from the Canadian Cod fishery of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, from which we construct and calibrate a simplified model as an emulator of more comprehensive models to demonstrate the approach. The implications of adding an analysis of the probabilities of stock collapse for a range of harvest levels and using a risk matrix to inform decision-making are discussed for four selected years 1974, 1986, 1993, and 2017.

A probabilistic time geographic approach to quantifying seabird‐vessel interactions

AbstractAccounting for uncertainty is essential for precautionary approaches to managing seabird bycatch in commercial fisheries. However, there is no existing mechanism to explicitly quantify the uncertainty of seabird‐vessel interactions (i.e. co‐occurrence in space and time). Here we develop a time geographic method to measure the probability of individual birds encountering (co‐occurring within 30 km) and attending (within 5 km) individual fishing vessels. The approach involves creating voxel‐based probabilistic space–time prisms (PSTPs) to model the movements of individual birds and vessels, with trajectory data from bird‐borne GPS devices and vessel Automatic Identification Systems (AIS). We intersected these PSTPs to quantify the probability of interaction between bird‐vessel pairs over time and space. We demonstrate the approach with a case study of interactions of Endangered Toroa (Antipodean Albatross; Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis) with pelagic longline vessels in part of the South Pacific high seas. We found 15 vessels within 150 km and 3 h of two birds, yet interaction occurred with only two of those vessels. We visualised the probability of encounter and attendance over time and space and determined that interactions lasted several hours each (up to 6.2–14.1 h attendance, 20.8–26.1 h encounter for one bird‐vessel pair). Our time geographic approach adds to existing tools to quantify seabird bycatch risk by providing an explicit measure of uncertainty of seabird‐vessel interactions. We provide a flexible methodological pathway and R scripts, the application of which would allow managers to estimate interaction probability for multiple marine species and fisheries, including those with lower‐resolution positional datasets.

Capitalising on Uncertainty: Exploring the Failure of International Law to Address the Risk Generated by the Proliferation of Space Debris

Abstract The increase in the number of space activities in recent decades has led to a concomitant increase in space debris in orbit around Earth. Space debris pose a risk not just for specific satellites, but also on a systemic level, as a collision cascade can result in the near-Earth orbits becoming unusable. In turn, this would entail a loss of the services currently provided through satellites. The international community has recognised this risk. Despite this, states are reluctant to negotiate and conclude international legal rules to address the proliferation of space debris. This article explores a root cause of this discrepancy. It argues that while law is typically seen as the regulator of uncertainty, international law’s regulation of outer space – under the interests of global capital investors – is directed by principles that support processes of commodification (i.e., the freedom of use), rather than principles that manage the risks associated with the proliferation of space debris as these would constrain (or are perceived to constrain) the expansion of capital (e.g., the precautionary principle). Therefore, international law – at the level of principles – is a co-producer of uncertainty. This conclusion is reached by exploring the proliferation of space debris through Ulrich Beck’s world risk society and by incorporating capital and economic power into his work. This inclusion reveals (i) that it is the accumulation of capital that generates risks and (ii) that capital exploits the socially constructed nature of risk to legitimise its expansion. International law – as both a regulator and co-producer of uncertainty – plays an essential role in legitimising these processes.

Application of the Precautionary Principle of Notary in Making Authentic Deed Against the Use of False Identity

Application of the Precautionary Principle of Notary in Making Authentic Deed Against the Use of False Identity

Empirical validation of integrated stock assessment models to ensuring risk equivalence: A pathway to resilient fisheries management.

The Precautionary Approach to Fisheries Management requires an assessment of the impact of uncertainty on the risk of achieving management objectives. However, the main quantities, such as spawning stock biomass (SSB) and fish mortality (F), used in management metrics cannot be directly observed. This requires the use of models to provide guidance, for which there are three paradigms: the best assessment, model ensemble, and Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE). It is important to validate the models used to provide advice. In this study, we demonstrate how stock assessment models can be validated using a diagnostic toolbox, with a specific focus on prediction skill. Prediction skill measures the precision of a predicted value, which is unknown to the model, in relation to its observed value. By evaluating the accuracy of model predictions against observed data, prediction skill establishes an objective framework for accepting or rejecting model hypotheses, as well as for assigning weights to models within an ensemble. Our analysis uncovers the limitations of traditional stock assessment methods. Through the quantification of uncertainties and the integration of multiple models, our objective is to improve the reliability of management advice considering the complex interplay of factors that influence the dynamics of fish stocks.

Asbestos

Asbestos has long been a staple lesson for the precautionary principle. As a toxic material, it is often something people hope not to encounter. But before this, it often appeared as a substance of hope, carrying the promise of safety and economic rewards. This article uses these conflicting accounts of asbestos’s hope as a starting point for thinking about the conditions of hazardous hope. Turning to a vignette about an asbestos facility in Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones (2016), the article considers how stories of hazardous hope may produce a diminishment of hope. Rather than dismiss this as insufficiently hopeful, however, the article addresses the form of the novel as an exemplar of accessible experimentalism, suggesting it models new ways of communicating complex problems. If narrativizing hope demands an openness to multiple possible futures, then the form of such hope might need to defer resolution in much the same way as that adopted by modernist writing.

Financial Year and Calendar Year Effects Across Indian Sectors: A Revisit from Investors Perspective

Anomalies in stock markets have been studied with varied approaches worldwide, and mixed outcomes exist. The present study has investigated the financial year and calendar year effect for indices from Indian markets. Sectoral indices from Indian markets have been incorporated in this study on the basis of their weightage in the stock market. Data from 2011 to 2023 have been engaged with historical prices of these indices taken from the stock exchange websites. The analysis has been carried out using the ordinary least squares regression method and the independent sample t-test. Weak anomalies have been documented in the case of the financial services sector. Therefore, the findings indicate rare possibilities for investors to gauge abnormal returns with strategies related to anomalies. With increasing transparency in the online trading mechanism, such possibilities cease to exist for investors. Moreover, market dynamics have transformed on account of several shocks such as COVID-19, Omicron, Russia–Ukraine, Visa-related international issues in the world over economies and financial markets. Investors and markets have become more cautious and look out for a precautionary approach while dealing in stock market trading.

Perception of the risks inherent in new AI technologies

Artificial intelligence (AI) has undergone rapid development and is becoming one of the major social issues. The advent of generative AI is not only associated with potential benefits but also poses a number of risks, such as increasing malicious misuse. This brings the issue of regulating new AI technologies into focus. In the search for solutions, the article revisits the problem of applying the precautionary principle. We critically evaluate regulatory approaches, particularly with regard to maintaining an innovation-friendly environment. A prudent approach to new AI technologies not only requires regulatory measures but also places new demands on the education system. We also discuss the regulation of AI from the perspective of Czech legislation in a broader international context. Current challenges in the field of AI competence are highlighted. To make the issue more tangible, we provide specific examples from the Czech Republic.

Impact Assessment as a Legal Design Pattern—A “Timeless Way” of Managing Future Risks?

Impact assessments are increasingly employed and debated as instruments for mitigating the fundamental rights risks associated with artificial intelligence, platforms and personal data processing. However, before their adoption in connection with technology and fundamental rights, impact assessments have been used for decades to mitigate large undertakings’ environmental and social impacts. An impact assessment is a process for collecting information to identify a future action’s effects and mitigate its unwanted effects. This article proposes that impact assessments represent a distinct legal design pattern with core elements that can be replicated in new legal contexts requiring ex-ante identification and mitigation of foreseeable risks. The tensions between diverging interests, temporality, epistemics and economics characterise this legal design pattern. The impact assessment process seeks to resolve these tensions by enabling translation between the regulator, the executor of the planned action and the stakeholders impacted by it. Awareness of the underlying patterns allows the lawmaker or the regulator to learn across diverse impact assessment models. Design pattern thinking advances research both on law and regulation by uncovering the tensions underling the design solution, as well as pattern interaction between legally mandated impact assessments and those representing other regulatory instruments. Finally, the approach raises awareness of the instrument’s shortcomings, including spheres where relying on complementary legal design patterns, such as precautionary principle, is more justified.

Regulation of artificial intelligence in Brazil: examination of Draft Bill no. 2338/2023

This article aims to explore the challenges faced by Brazilian Draft Bill no. 2338/2023 in its purpose to implement risk-based regulation of artificial intelligence in Brazil. Based on the inspiration received from the European AI Act, the article describes the Brazilian classification of risks and its impacts for the regulation, the governance rules, the practical application of principles of prevention and precaution, and the administrative and civil liability.

The precautionary approach and challenges posed by mega‐constellations

AbstractThe advent and continuing deployment of mega‐constellations has brought new challenges, particularly increased risk of collision, proliferation of space debris, reduced numbers of launch windows and obstruction to astronomical observation. The precautionary approach, which is becoming part of customary international law, is instrumental in addressing these challenges. Although precautionary measures are incorporated in international treaties and soft law instruments regarding outer space, a full application of the precautionary approach is necessary to balance the need of innovation and the sustainable use of outer space. To this end, operators of mega‐constellations must keep the approach in mind and comply with its substantive obligations once it is triggered, including suspension of activities, risk assessment, mitigation and prevention, and notification and information. The possibility of new deployment of mega‐constellation being frozen at some point makes the equitable distribution of satellite orbits and radio frequencies a pressing issue.

Concussion management in pediatric patients – ethical concerns

ABSTRACT Collision sports pose a high risk of concussion. How to respond to this risk is more ethically complex when considering children and adolescents due to a) incomplete evidence regarding the impact of concussion on developing brains, b) physiological and social vulnerability, and c) the young person’s reliance on proxy decision-makers, usually parents. There is also a lack of clear definitions of (a) collision sport (vs. contact sport) and (b) what constitutes a child or adolescent. We consider whether parents should be free to allow their children/adolescents to play contact or collision sport. The article analyses the harms and benefits of collision sport and methods of determining risk, before outlining our support for the precautionary principle. We then consider whether the ‘best interests’ or ‘right to an open future’ framework ought to be applied to the issue of childhood participation in collision sport. Rather than supporting a ban of child/adolescent participation in collision sport, we argue that permissibility should be decided on a sport-by-sport basis. Moreover, we apply the ‘Accountability of Reasonableness’ framework to ensure that sound ethical values guide and support protections for this vulnerable group in the absence of high-quality evidence.

BATASAN PERTANGGUNGJAWABAN PPAT TERHADAP KETIDAKABSAHAN DOKUMEN KELENGKAPAN PERSYARATAN DALAM SISTEM HAK TANGGUNGAN ELEKTRONIK (HT-EL)

This research aims to analyze the limits of PPAT's responsibility for documents completing the requirements in the Electronic Mortgage System (HT-el) as well as analyze the legal protection of PPAT as the person responsible for the validity and correctness of documents in the HT-el system. The research was conducted by the authors using a normative juridical writing method with descriptive analysis with a conceptual approach and a statutory approach. The legal sources used are primary, secondary, and tertiary legal sources using literature study methods and then analyzed by the author using systematic, extensive, and comparative interpretation. The limitation of PPAT's responsibility for the HT-el system is limited to the process of making a statement letter. If PPAT has carried out its duties and procedures by the provisions then it cannot be punished by Article 51 Paragraph 1) of the Criminal Code and according to Supreme Court Jurisprudence 385/K/Pid/2006. PPATs in carrying out their profession receive legal protection, namely preventive legal protection and repressive legal protection. PPAT's preventive legal protection in carrying out each of its duties and authorities must be based on the precautionary principle. Repressive legal protection: A PPAT can make efforts to defend themselves and receive legal assistance in the form of advice, input, or assistance during the investigation process.