Private Interests Research Articles

Metal Trade and Contraband: Archaeological Discoveries and Insights from the Nanhai No.1 Merchant Shipwreck

The archaeological evidence from the Nanhai No.1 shipwreck provides tangible evidence for the study of maritime trade during the Song Dynasty, revealing the presence of a significant amount of smuggled metal in the cargo, suggesting possible involvement in smuggling activities. Merchants may have used tactics such as under-reporting and clandestine transportation of prohibited items to evade supervision, thus engaging in the illicit trade of metal materials and artifacts banned by the Song government on the international market. Valuations of the goods recovered from Nanhai No.1 indicate that the value of iron and silver exceeds that of porcelain, while the value of gold objects and currency exceeds that of porcelain by one-third. Research also suggests a possible shift in the model of maritime trade during the Song Dynasty, from government-led to merchant-led, with a gradual weakening of government supervision and control over trade. This change may be related to reforms in trade organization and the government leniency toward prohibited activities. Despite repeated government bans, smuggling of metal goods continued throughout the Song Dynasty, with no significant reduction in the scale of the metal trade due to the profit-seeking behavior of private merchants, highlighting the inadequacy of government control over illegal smuggling activities. This complex interplay between economic gain, national security, private interests and government control had profound implications for China, the broader South China Sea region and beyond, while the outflow of metal artifacts also facilitated the exchange of goods, technology and culture between China and the aforementioned regions.

It Is Our Turn to Innovate: Innovation as the Engine of Economic Prosperity in South America

The pivotal role of innovation in fostering economic growth is widely acknowledged, with a growing consensus emphasizing its correlation with elevated productivity levels and enhanced competitiveness. Yet, there is limited research exploring potential factors that could boost the positive effects of innovation. This study addressed this fundamental gap in the literature by exploring whether financial development factors (private credit, bank assets, and interest rate) significantly moderate the effect of innovation on GDP and GDP per capita in South America—a region where this topic has not been widely studied with data on patents and economic growth. Using regression analysis with panel data from 10 South American countries, this study presents empirical evidence that suggests that policies in the region should promote strategic collaborations between governments and financial institutions such as banks with the aim of creating an environment that allows researchers to increase innovation outcomes and that rewards firms and entrepreneurs for innovating and adopting new technologies. Moreover, the findings of this article underscore that it is imperative that South America allocates more resources to innovation, recognizing it as the driving force to fuel economic growth.

Pestes, desenvolvimento e desigualdades

Abstract This article discusses questions concerning the future of humanity in the face of threats to the health of populations, whose impact has been exacerbated in the course of inequalities in all parts of the world, pari passu with global development in the hegemonized model since last century. The COVID-19 pandemic is a good example that illustrates this dissonance between development and inequalities. Questions were formulated to be debated about the construction of the future of world society, based on the understanding of the evolutionary character of life on the planet vis-à-vis the evils that affect large contingents of the population and represent powerful risks for this evolutionary process. These questions call attention to the discussion around social participation in the definition and control of public policies, as opposed to the hegemony of private interests in the formulation and execution of these policies, both in the scenarios of each country and in the international context.

Democratising Food Safety: Why We Need to Look Beyond Government Regulation and Provide a Citizen Right of Action

AbstractImperfect information on food safety and risk has created a system with less safety than the public wants. Consumers cannot pay for the level of safety they desire. Tort under-compensates for foodborne illness due to difficulty proving causation. When market controls are ineffective at producing the level of safety desired by consumers, the classic approach is government regulation. However, government regulators face challenges that impede the translation of scientific knowledge into regulatory controls. This often results in an equilibrium of private interests and bureaucratic interests rather than the public interest. To restore republican deliberation on food safety we need greater citizen involvement in the decision-making. Access to the courts is an effective means for citizens to participate directly in the decisions affecting food safety; thus, a private cause of action to our national food safety laws is proposed.

Pests, development and inequalities.

This article discusses questions concerning the future of humanity in the face of threats to the health of populations, whose impact has been exacerbated in the course of inequalities in all parts of the world, pari passu with global development in the hegemonized model since last century. The COVID-19 pandemic is a good example that illustrates this dissonance between development and inequalities. Questions were formulated to be debated about the construction of the future of world society, based on the understanding of the evolutionary character of life on the planet vis-à-vis the evils that affect large contingents of the population and represent powerful risks for this evolutionary process. These questions call attention to the discussion around social participation in the definition and control of public policies, as opposed to the hegemony of private interests in the formulation and execution of these policies, both in the scenarios of each country and in the international context.

Необходимость минимизации рисков при сделках с жилыми помещениями для защиты частных и публичных интересов

The article determines that at present there are high risks of identifying defects in the title or encumbrances of residential premises some time after its acquisition. The reasons for the situation that have arisen are analyzed, including the instability of the content of the concept of “real estate” in domestic legislation. The evolution of this concept is studied and the prospects for its development are outlined. The first reason also leads to the second, which is related to the imperfection of the system for registering rights to real estate. It was determined that it is not in the public interest to shift all the risks arising from a bona fide purchaser of real estate to the treasury. It is concluded that such methods of minimizing risks as notarization of transactions with residential premises and title insurance are more consistent with both public and private interests.

Право ребенка на семейное воспитание: проблемы защиты в аспекте конвергенции публичных и частных интересов

The article analyzes the features of the child’s right to education, the specifics of its implementation in modern conditions, determines its legal and social purpose, and the degree of influence on the child’s development. It has been proven that such an intangible right of a child is distinguished by a combination of public and private interests, the convergence of which allows each parent to freely exercise their right to raise a child, and the state, represented by public bodies, to ensure the protection of the rights of the child as a priority in the event of improper fulfillment by parents of their rights and responsibilities.

Conservative Christianity, Anti-Vaccination Activism, and the Challenge to Secularism in Singapore

Abstract A culture war has been brewing in Singapore since 2009 when a conservative Christian group conducted a reverse takeover of a feminist civil society organization and was subsequently expelled from the organization in a publicized meeting between the two groups. Since then, the state has mediated the contestation of values between religious conservatives and liberal groups allied around issues of gender and sexuality. The culture war between the two sides has revolved around creative protests that have evaded state prohibitions against public contestations over what is legally considered private beliefs and affairs. They involve innovative hybridizations of American discourses on values and rights mixed with Asian emphases on family traditions and sentiments. The COVID-19 pandemic has, however, laid bare the adaptation of the American culture war into the Singaporean public sphere. This article looks at and analyzes COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among conservative Christians in Singapore and their incorporation of anti-vaccination views from American Christian nationalism into secular framings, invoking legal rights and responsibilities aligned with the state’s nationalist discourse. I argue that this represents a new phase of contestation by conservatives, refashioning their religious views into secular frames of public good and morality serving the secular nation. By doing so, they implicitly challenge the state’s regulation of religion as private interests and beliefs. This altered religious activism has shifted the terms of secularism and loosened the hegemony of the state in defining these terms.

Price Formation in the Heat Supply Sphere as a Measure to Balance the Private and Public Interests

Price Formation in the Heat Supply Sphere as a Measure to Balance the Private and Public Interests

Genetic and Digital Discrimination in Labor Law: Problem Statement

The last few decades have been characterized by the most active development of medicine and genetics, leading to the emergence of new knowledge about the functioning of the human body. The identification of a genetic predisposition to the development of certain diseases requires a rethink of traditional approaches to the use of employee personal data, labor protection, and the balance of public and private interests in labor legislation. This article analyzes approaches to determining the legal nature of genetic information, identifies possible areas of restriction of workers’ rights depending on the identification of hereditary predisposition to certain diseases, draws a line between discrimination based on genetic characteristics and differentiation. In the context of the active digitalization of personnel processes, the risks of possible digital discrimination in the selection and evaluation of employees using artificial intelligence technologies are noted.

Dualism of Labor Law: Private Law and Public Law Aspects

The relevance of the topic of this article is due to the fact that the structure of labor law as a regulator of public relations contains the principles of both power and subordination, and equality of the parties. Despite the prevalence of the concept of dualism in labor law, there is no consensus in legal science regarding its content.The purpose of this article is to develop scientific provisions reflecting the features of dualism in labor law. Proceeding from the designated goal, the author set tasks: to determine the private and public legal aspects in the dual nature of labor law. In the process of studying national interests, the dialectical method of cognition was used as a philosophical basis, as well as general scientific research methods: ascent from the abstract to the concrete, the system-structural method. private scientific methods: formal legal, as wellas logical means of cognition — analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction.As a result of the analysis of scientific and regulatory sources, the following conclusions were formulated: 1) The state performs several functions in achieving a balance of private and public legal interests in the field of labor regulation: legislative, control, social, intermediary. 2) By promoting a balance between the interests of workers and the State, civil society contributes to ensuring fairer and more stable working conditions for all.

Public Benefit and Public Interest – Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Purpose: Driven by the question of how the concepts of public interest and public benefit differ, this paper delves into the Slovenian legal system. Through an in-depth analysis of legal concepts, national regulations, and case law from the Slovenian Constitutional Court and selected cases from the European Court of Human Rights, its aim is to illuminate the key differences between both terms. Ultimately, the paper seeks to establish fundamental guidelines for understanding the distinct meaning and application of each concept. Design/methodology/approach: The research is based on a content analysis research design, reviewing secondary literature sources. It employs qualitative methods by analysing the relevant theoretical points, rules, and constitutional case law in the Slovenian legal system, as well as selected European Court of Human Rights case law. The analysis focuses on identifying and extracting key theoretical arguments, legal definitions, and practical applications of both concepts. To distinguish between public benefit and public interest, the analysis adopts a comparative approach, examining how each concept is defined, applied, and balanced in different legal contexts. Additionally, synthesis is used to identify commonalities and divergences between different perspectives on these concepts. Finally, conclusions about the relationship between public benefit and public interest are drawn based on the analysed data. Findings: Public interest and public benefit are abstract concepts. The analysis of relevant Slovenian systemic regulations shows that the two are sometimes applied interchangeably. However, theory suggests that there are certain differences in terms of their tangibility and enforceability. Constitutional case law refers to both concepts in a general way without fully defining their content, yet it does not treat them as synonyms. Academic contribution to the field: Public interest and public benefit are central concepts of public administration science. Public interest is key in defining and shaping administrative relations decided in an administrative procedure. It represents the core value of the public sector, ensuring that its operations are legitimate. Public benefit, on the other hand, is the general benefit of an organised wider community, superior to the benefits of individuals and generally considered equivalent to substantive legality. As public and private interests collide, state intervention with appropriate regulation is necessary to protect the public benefit.Originality/significance/value: This research contributes to the understanding of the concepts of public interest and public benefit within the Slovenian legal system and is a novelty in the field as no such overview has been undertaken before. Its value lies in the analysis of Slovenian constitutional case law over the last twenty-two years and insights into European Court of Human Rights case law. The focus on European Court of Human Rights and Slovenian legislation and case law limits the generalisability of the findings to other contexts. This approach was chosen as much of the relevant legislation for this research is independent of EU influences. Nonetheless, being an EU member state, Slovenia’s legal framework shares some commonalities with other European systems. The added value of the analysis lies in its relevance for understanding how these concepts are treated in similar legal systems, offering valuable insights for comparative studies.

Оpening of proceedings in civil and economic proceedings: a comparative aspect

The article provides a comparative analysis of the problems of opening proceedings in civil and economic processes. The procedural norms of the EU member states, which regulate the procedure for opening proceedings in civil and economic processes, have been analyzed. It is additionally substantiated that the opening of the proceedings in the case is the first stage of proceedings in any private law case considered by the court. Every person has the right to apply to the court if he needs the protection of his rights, in case of their violation, non-recognition or appeal. It has been proven that the presence of such a procedural stage as the opening of proceedings in the case is important in view of checking the compliance of the content and form of the claim statement with the requirements of the law, as well as clarifying the procedural legal personality and in order to prevent abuse of the right to defense. A comparative analysis of the norms of the Civil Procedural Code of Ukraine and the Economic Procedural Code of Ukraine was carried out, which made it possible to single out the following common features: the opening of the proceedings is singled out as a stage within the framework of the legal proceedings; to open a proceeding, a person must file a lawsuit, in which he can request a simplified proceeding; control powers are provided in the court to verify compliance of the claim with procedural requirements, while the same period (five days) is provided for issuing a decision on leaving the claim without movement, changes were simultaneously made to the analyzed procedural codes regarding control over the registration of the electronic cabinet by the plaintiff; judicial control is provided for the compliance of the claim with the requirements of the procedural legislation in the relevant proceedings; in the case of leaving the statement of claim without movement due to deficiencies that can be corrected, the same period for their elimination is given - ten days; similar additional grounds for returning claims, etc. are defined. Differences in procedural norms regarding the opening of proceedings are highlighted. It is substantiated that the opening of the proceedings in the case is a separate stage of the civil process, which is important in view of the realization of a person’s right to judicial protection, which implements the primary tools of judicial control aimed at guaranteeing the balance of private and public interests, in particular the right to fair judicial protection and prevent abuse of the person’s right to defense.

From public to market use: a historical perspective on the changes in health data collection and use in France from 1930 to the present

Purpose This study aims to understand the progressive marketization of health data collection and use, through a study of its historical development in France, from the 1930s to the present day. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected a set of legal, institutional, political and media data. These came from the INA (National Audiovisual Institute), the French national newspaper websites and the websites legifrance.gouv.fr and vie-publique.fr. The authors then conducted a thematic content analysis. Findings The study results highlight the changes in the health-care system related to the increased use of data in France over three major periods. The first period – 1930s to 1980s – is marked by the creation of the French social security system to collect large sets of data to better manager people’s health care. The second period – 1980s to 2000s – is characterized by the adoption and assimilation of tools to manage patient data through several national and European regulations. The last period – 2000s to the present – saw the introduction of measures in favor of the digitalization of health care, and consequently of data, in parallel with the advancement of digital technologies in general. The institutional dynamics in healthcare have evolved with the nature of the actors and their practices, in connection with new perceptions about health data. Originality/value This research sheds light on the historical transformation of health data collection and use in France, revealing the involvement of diverse stakeholders, the discourses driving data development and the need for regulation. It exposes the dual nature of health data collection and use, initially sanctioned by the state and public entities but later exploited for private interests.

Monocratic cybersecurity in the EU member states: insights from Italy, France, Germany and Spain

ABSTRACT The paper investigates the interplay between the development of cybersecurity policies and one of the major transformations underway in contemporary democratic regimes, i.e. the gradual shifting of power and decision-making authority from parliamentary assemblies towards national governments and prime ministers. The study relates the structure of cybersecurity governance in the four major EU member states (i.e. France, Germany, Italy and Spain) to the rise of the monocratic government, meant as a political process affecting the relationships both between executive and legislative powers, and between public authorities and private interests. The analysis shows how monocratization affects national cybersecurity policies in contemporary Western democracies, albeit to varying degrees in the four Eu member states. Furthermore, the analysis emphasizes the role of cybersecurity policymaking as a driver of monocratization, which is gradually expanding the power of prime ministers at the expense of parliaments.

Proposer's moral identity modulates fairness processing in the ultimatum game: Evidence from behavior and brain potentials

Economic decision-making is pivotal to both human private interests and the national economy. People pursue fairness in economic decision-making, but a proposer's moral identity can influence fairness processing. Previous ERP studies have revealed that moral identity has an effect on fairness considerations in the Ultimatum Game (UG), but the findings are inconsistent. To address the issue, we revised the moral-related sentences and used the ERP technique to measure the corresponding neural mechanism. We have observed that the fairness effect in UG can be mirrored in both MFN and P300 changes, whereas the moral identity effect on fairness in UG can be reflected by MFN but not P300 changes. These findings indicate that the moral identity of the proposer can modulate fairness processing in UG. The current study opens new avenues for clarifying the temporal course of the relationship between the proposer's moral identity and fairness in economic decision-making, which is beneficial for understanding the influencing mechanism of fairness processing and fair allocations in complex social contexts.

Criminal Protection of Public Personal Information in the Digital Era

The digital era has accelerated the speed and breadth of information dissemination. While enjoying the information dividend, the security of personal information has hidden dangers of leakage. For public personal information, this concern is even worse. On the theoretical level, the secondary authorization theory, the purposiveness theory, and the objective openness standard theory cannot fully respond to the reality and urgency of repeated violations of public personal information. On the level of judicial practices, the guiding cases of personal information protection issued by the Supreme People’s Court enlighten us that we should give classified protection to public personal information. Typed protection mode classifies the public personal information from the perspectives of voluntary disclosure, compulsory disclosure, and illegal disclosure, and considers whether it is convicted or not from three aspects: the subjective illegality of the doer, the scope of information control of the information subject and the measurement of public and private interests, which strengthens the protection of the public personal information.

Public–Private Development Cooperation: Interface and Conflicting Logics in the Formation of a Strategic Partnership

Public–private development partnership constitutes the core of a deepening normative agenda that places private actors as active development agents and as means through which other development objectives are pursued in partnership with publicly funded aid actors. This normative agenda may challenge international development. This article goes beyond the official policy level to explore the formation of public–private development cooperation in practice, not just on paper. It zooms into the partnership between a Norwegian NGO and a multinational company and their joint project to renovate an old vocational college in Ethiopia to serve the private actor’s need for qualified workers. The article shows how a publicly funded development project becomes a proxy for private interests, but argues that the diversion of public aid is not due to bad intentions or conflicting interests. Rather, it is the result of interface situations created by the public–private partnership agenda and its intentional merger of actors with distinct institutional logics, accountabilities and rationales. The article demonstrates how actors put together as part of the public–private partnership agenda end up undermining the agenda itself because of the interface situations created in the nexus of public and private actors.

부적절한 법정지의 법리에 관한 대체적 법정지의 요건과 판결의 집행가능성 요소

In a globalized world, business activities are becoming increasingly de-nationalized and with that cross-border disputes are also on the rise. Parties seeking to resolve international disputes through trial may have an incentive to engage in forum shopping, which is the practice of selecting a forum where they believe they are more likely to receive a favorable judgment. In response to such a complaint, the defendant may assert forum non conveniens as a defense. Under the forum non conveniens doctrine, the court may dismiss a claim if it would cause undue inconvenience to the defendant, even if the forum has jurisdiction. The forum non conveniens doctrine has been developed mainly in the common law system, but Korea also introduced the doctrine in 2022 with the comprehensive revision of the Private International Law Act jurisdiction rules and has adopted it to a limited extent in line with the civil law system. Article 12, which stipulates this doctrine, however, does not specify specific standards for applying the doctrine, leaving it open to interpretation. Therefore, focusing on the United States, which has accumulated precedent on the forum non conveniens doctrine, this paper examines what constitutes an alternative forum and what the factors are for the enforceability of the judgment. The forum non conveniens doctrine in the United States involves first, examining whether an alternative forum exists, and second, applying a balancing test that weighs private and public interest factors, and determine whether deference should be given to the plaintiff's chosen forum. The enforceability factor is one of the private interest factors, which is important for plaintiffs' access to justice and judicial economy. Accordingly this study examines how the forum non conveniens doctrine is interpreted and applied in the United States, and then examines the forum non conveniens doctrine in Korea.

Corruption and Good Governance in Africa: A Hermeneutical Analysis

Human beings are social and communal animals and cannot but live in an ordered society and have interactive relationships, hence good governance, which is essential for their well-being and development. This fact grounds their forming governmental apparatus to coordinate the things that are common to them; otherwise, violence and warfare may continue unabated. Good governance does not just happen. Those elected or appointed into positions of governance need to be effective, efficient and exhibit an ethical character to ensure that the good life constitutive of the promotion of human rights, provision of social facilities, and all that provide a better life for the people are in place. In the African continent, many of those in governance, instead of working for the public good to ensure a better life for their citizens, serve their private and parochial interests to the detriment of the welfare of the people by engaging in massive corruption. Corruption, especially political and public, has grave effects on the economy and the lives of the people all over the continent. Massive corruption has siphoned public funds for development projects and lodged them in foreign banks. This has led to poverty and underdevelopment, weakened sustainable development goals, caused youth restiveness, led to forced migration, poor environmental growth, and loss of millions of lives. Problematized in this paper is a continent endowed and blessed with natural and human resources but remains the poorest, most undeveloped continent in the world because of corruption. The paper used hermeneutics and critical analytic methods to examine corruption as an impediment to good governance in Africa. The hermeneutics method was used to interpret, decipher, and highlight the importance of this work’s principal concepts. The critical-analytic method was used to rationalize the arguments. The paper found that massive corruption is decimating the continent and that there is a need to combat it to ensure good governance. It concluded that combating corruption will help create a better continent where people enjoy a good life and democratic entitlements