Protection Reform Research Articles

Protecting the Right to Life of Children with Disabilities in China

ABSTRACTChinese social policy to support parents in caring for their children is vital to address the urgent social problem of abandoning the life of children with disabilities by not seeking medical treatment. The child rights approach was used to analyze the effectiveness of Chinese social policy to protect the right to life of these children. Primary and secondary empirical data from 3 case studies where parents decided whether to abandon their child were analyzed. Did the child protection mechanisms protect the right to life of these children, and when did parents decide to abandon their children? The findings were: a) When the children were born, their right to life was not unconditional; b) the decision was made privately by parents—no formal decision procedure was available, the role of professionals was minimal, and the state did not intervene; and c) parents considered the disadvantages to their children if they lived. The implication is that China has not yet established a system to support parents and protect the lives of young children with disabilities. Future research to inform child protection reform and disability support to children and families to prevent children becoming abandoned is urgently needed.

Legal Protection Reform for Children Conflicted with Law

The government has long been giving protection to children. Protection is reflected in the issuance of various Law. One of them is the Law No. 23 of 2003 on Child Protection. The legal protection of children in conflicted with law and child as victims of crime are regulatedin articlenumber 64. Issuance of Law No. 3 of 1997 on Juvenile Court actually originates from a passion for protecting the rights of children in conflicted with the law. However, due to inadequate understanding and mindset of Juvenile Court, which is do not have the children’s perspective, what comes up is that the substance of Law on Juvenile Court is not to protect children but to prosecute children. However, after the release of Law No. 11 of 2012 onThe Criminal Justice System of Children, legal protection of children in conflict with the law was encouragingly reformed. How To Cite: Rosna Wati, E. (2014). Legal Protection Reform for Children Conflicted with Law. Rechtsidee, 1(1), 59-70. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.21070/jihr.v1i1.101

Piracy and music sales: The effects of an anti-piracy law

The implementation of a copyright protection reform in Sweden in April 2009 suddenly increased the risk of being caught and punished for illegal file sharing. This paper investigates the impact of the reform on illegal file sharing and music sales using a difference-in-differences approach with Norway and Finland as control groups. We find that the reform decreased Internet traffic by 16% and increased music sales by 36% during the first six months. Pirated music therefore seems to be a strong substitute to legal music. However, the reform effects disappeared almost completely after six months, likely because of the weak enforcement of the law.

Perceptions of controllers on EU data protection reform: A Finnish perspective

Data protection regulations are undergoing a global reform. The European Commission proposed a reform of the EU data protection framework in 2012. One major driver for the reform has been the research on the consumer perceptions indicating that the consumers are worried about their personal privacy. However, there has been practically no research on perceptions of companies (the controllers of the personal data) and on the data protection reform. This research analyses the awareness and the willingness to act towards compliance regarding the proposed General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Finland in 2013. The GDPR will replace the Finnish Personal Data Act and therefore plays a central role in the Finnish privacy regulation. This research found that the general level of awareness was low: only 43% of the controllers were aware of the forthcoming reform. The willingness to act or to take steps towards the compliance was even lower: 31% of controllers said that they are planning to act towards compliance during this year. These results indicate that the companies are quite unfamiliar with the reform that correlates with other relevant studies in Europe. Personal data are said to be the oil of the digital economy, the hottest commodity of the market today. There are companies that understand this, but the majority seems to ignore this at least what comes to their awareness regarding the reform, even the reform captures many of the best practices regarding processing of personal data.

The Impact of the European Data Protection Reform on Citizens. Which Choices Remain?

The Impact of the European Data Protection Reform on Citizens. Which Choices Remain?

Default entitlements in personal data in the proposed Regulation: Informational self-determination off the table … and back on again?

This paper aims to assess the proposed General Data Protection Regulation through the framework of default entitlements in personal data. The notion of default entitlements comes from economic analysis of law and provides new insights into the implications of the data protection reform. While, under the principle of informational self-determination the default entitlements should lie with the individual, the Commission is shown to assign a great deal of default rights to others, including the Information Industry. This article cautions against the possibility of reducing the European system of data protection rooted in the values of individual autonomy and informational self-determination to a mere set of administrative rules channelling the flow of personal data, yet without a clear direction.

Getting the EU data protection reform back on track

Getting the EU data protection reform back on track

Transforming European Capitalism? The European Union and the Governance of Companies

It has been argued that since the mid 1990s the European Commission, with the support of the European Court of Justice, has launched a concerted attack on the institutions of ‘organised’ or ‘non-liberal’ capitalism in member states. In combination, these two institutions are said to possess both the will and, more importantly, the capacity to enforce a liberal transformation of national economic governance institutions across much of Europe. This article evaluates these claims, firstly, through an analysis of the EU's efforts to strengthen the rights of shareholders within the governance of corporations. It identifies the principal political factors that mediate and mitigate the impact of this reform programme through an examination of the fate of the Commission's efforts to create functioning markets for corporate control and for firm incorporation. It then, secondly, assesses the related but broader question of the viability of narrowly focused regulatory reform programmes as a mechanism for transforming governance institutions, through the conduct of a case study of the impact of shareholder protection reforms on corporate governance in Italy. While acknowledging the extent of the obstacles to coherent reform and the limited impact of the reform programme, it finds that the capacity of Commission and ECJ activism to ‘dis-organise’ national governance systems is real and significant.

Partisanship, political constraints, and employment protection reforms in an era of austerity

Why do some governments adopt unpopular reforms entailing far-reaching liberalization of the labor market, while others opt only for marginal adjustments or even regulatory reforms? This paper explains the likelihood of different types of reforms as an effect of different constellations of government partisanship and veto players. Combining the ‘blame avoidance’ and ‘veto players’ logics of politics, I argue that veto players have either a constraining or enabling effect depending on the partisan orientation of government. Liberalization is most likely to be adopted either by right parties facing few veto players, or by left parties in contexts with a high degree of power sharing. Regulatory reforms are most likely when left governments enjoy strong power concentration, but marginal regulation may also be adopted under external pressure by right governments facing many veto players. An analysis of employment protection reforms in 24 European Union countries during 1990–2007 supports the argument that the effect of political constraints and opportunities on the choice of reforms is shaped by partisan differences.

Modernization of European data protection law at a turning point

CLSR welcomes occasional comment pieces on issues of current importance in the law and technology field. In this note Dr Ulrich Wuermeling of Latham & Watkins LLP, Frankfurt offers a personal viewpoint on the EU data protection reform package.

The Impact of No-Fault Legislation on Automobile Insurance

Since its inception, the effectiveness of no-fault legislation has been highly debated. Although some research suggests that no-fault laws are effective in reducing costs, other evidence suggests that the current no-fault systems may not meet the original objectives. This study provides a detailed assessment of the relation of no-fault laws and automobile insurance losses for the period 1994 to 2007. By examining total automobile insurance losses along with liability and personal injury protection losses, we are able to determine if and how specific provisions of the laws are related to claims costs. We find a negative relation between the presence of a no-fault law and total losses, which suggests that no-fault systems are associated with lower losses than the traditional tort system. In addition, an examination of no-fault-only states suggests that specific provisions of no-fault laws, such as thresholds and limitations on benefits, have some effect on losses. With the sunset of Colorado’s no-fault legislation in 2003, the recent passage of Personal Injury Protection Reform in Florida, and proposed federal choice legislation, the overall impact of no-fault as well as the specific components of the laws are of heightened importance to consumers, insurers, and lawmakers.

The European data protection framework for the twenty-first century

This article sets out some of the key elements of the Commission's EU data protection reform proposals and highlights a number of the main changes compared to the current situation. The new legislative instruments contain important changes to the current acquis, relating in particular to – the new legal basis; – the choice of legal instruments, including their scope of application; – reinforcing the rights of data subjects; – enhancing the responsibility of controllers and processors; – facilitating international transfers of personal data; – guaranteeing independent enforcement; and – ensuring protection of personal data by police and criminal justice authorities.

The right to Data portability in the context of the EU data protection reform

The proposal for reform of the data protection legal framework, recently made public by the European Commission (EC), specifically enshrines a ‘right to data portability’, which is designed to reduce the difficulties for individuals to stay in control of their personal data, along with the provision of a ‘right to be forgotten’ and a ‘right to rectification’.The debates surrounding these privacy concerns, especially related to cloud computing (another ubiquitous concept), have not enjoyed a clear, unitary discourse, as IT developments have almost out-run the rhythm in which legal scholars were analysing recent threats to privacy, and especially internet privacy.This paper aims to reveal the characteristics of data portability as a legal concept in the modern world of privacy and data protection; it focuses on a few aspects of the reform proposed by the Commission, highlighting the detailed provisions of the right to data portability in the larger context of the reform.It also discusses data portability’s impact on competition and its links to international data transfers, as they will be regulated in the new EU data protection law. It concludes that data portability is a right of the data subject strongly connected with a fundamental right to the free development of human personality, and is also a function that cloud computing services worldwide will have to provide in order to increase users’, customers’ or consumers’ trust.

Data processing and law enforcement access to information systems at EU level

EU Agencies and Information Systems collect and exchange personal data with Member States but also between each other. In this context, law enforcement agencies such as Europol increasingly get access to data originally serving other purposes. Europol already has access to the Visa-Information System; plans to allow the access to Eurodac also exist. The rules regulating this exchange are so far not harmonised. The article illustrates the existing exchange and access possibilities in light of the EU data protection reform.

Economic Distress, Labor Market Reforms, and Dualism in Japan and Korea

This article seeks to examine the rapid rise of labor market dualism and inequality in Japan and Korea. It argues that the path‐dependent trajectories of labor market and social protection reforms biased in favor of labor market insiders explain recent institutional developments in the two countries. In Japan, political coalitions between conservative policymakers, large firms, and core regular workers in reform politics consolidated labor market dualism and inequality during its protracted recession. Meanwhile, the organizational capacity of large chaebol unions deepened the inequality and the segmentation of the dualistic labor market in Korea. By examining three key institutional domains of the labor market—labor market reform, wage bargaining, and social protection—this article analyzes the ways in which Japan and Korea have reinforced dualism and inequality over the past two decades.

Data protection reform, passenger name record and telecommunications data retention

Data protection reform, passenger name record and telecommunications data retention

Renew and Extension of Vigor in Historical Block - The Background Study of Historical Block and the Building Overhang Protection and Synthesis Reform in Haikou

Haikou, one of leading historical and cultural city, whose history block and the building overhang is paid close attention to, because of whose entire and continuous value. But it is a long time since established, the function layout and the appearance elements are old, which is far away from the need of society, economy and culture development nowadays, is badly in need of reform. With the start of example area in history cultural block and the following survey, author is going to do a further study of reforming old city background, seeking out suitable local planning method and principle. The article expounds the background, target and constructs intention of Haikou historical block planning design, providing the extended train of thought about the historical block renewal.

L'internationalisation de la protection de l'enfance : acteurs, concurrences et projets transnationaux (1900-1925)

The present article examines in transnational perspective the emergence of child protection reform networks during the first quarter of the twentieth-century and their role in the creation of the League of Nations’ Children’s Protection Committee (1925). By insisting, not only on the continuities linking this organization to the reform networks that preceded it, but also on the competition to which it gave rise among rival networks, one may underscore the issues at stake in this movement to internationalize child protection as well as the tensions to which it gave rise (including models of intervention, the manner in which these should be spread, the role to be played by member organizations in this process and, finally, relations between the LON and NGO networks seeking to assert themselves as the spokesmen of global public opinion). On the one hand, this involves reevaluating the role played by the networks and technical organizations affiliated with the LON in the evolution of contemporaneous child and youth policies. On the other hand, it is a matter of contributing to the renewal of knowledge concerning the modes of institutional operation specific to international organizations by examining them as spaces in which international circulations are structured.

Piracy, Music, and Movies: A Natural Experiment

The implementation of a copyright protection reform in Sweden in April 2009 suddenly increased the risk of being caught and punished for illegal file sharing. This paper investigates the impact of the reform on illegal file sharing and music sales using a difference-in-differences approach with Norway and Finland as control groups. We find that the reform decreased Internet traffic by 16 percent and increased music sales by 36 percent during the first six months. Pirated music therefore seems to be a strong substitute to legal music. However, the reform effects almost completely disappeared after six months.

Reform of minority shareholder rights: An international perspective

This research investigates recent international reforms of minority shareholder rights (MSRs), and the relationship between those reforms and national legal systems. No previous studies have investigated such changes and their underlying causes; nor have they viewed the phenomena concerned through a dynamic lens. The study uses secondary data from 142 countries over a five-year period (2006-2010). Using growth curve modelling and the panel data method, the study finds that legal systems and law enforcement affect reforms positively. On average, countries’ MSRs are improving, but this is not consistent across nations. The findings contribute to the current debate on the relationship of law to minority shareholder protection and will assist policy-makers in the area of investor protection reforms. Future research directions are suggested at the end of the paper.