Recent Law Research Articles

Regulating Religious Choices: Foundations and Legitimacy of Anti-conversion Laws in India

Abstract In the last few years, there has been a conspicuous upsurge in the enactment of anti-conversion laws by many Indian states. Even though some states have had such laws since the 1960s, the recent ones are more aggressive and stringent, primarily aimed at making the conversion process cumbersome and illegal on additional grounds including marriage of inter-faith couples. The recent laws have been targeted for furthering the political agenda of love-jihad and violating the secular ideals enshrined in the Constitution. This article argues that the object of the recent anti-conversion enactments is largely political and reflects majoritarian disposition. It is further asserted that the inherent ambiguities in the grounds of unlawful conversion and procedural provisions of these laws are arbitrary, discriminatory, and violative of the right to equality, freedom of religion, marriage, and privacy recognised by the Constitution.

Anti-Google Law: An Analysis

When an organisation acts independently of the dynamics of the competitive market and attracts the greatest number of customers, it enjoys a dominant position in the market. It has been repeatedly proven through a series of cases that a dominating actor may try to engage in actions that are an abuse of their dominant position and hence, anti-competitive, resulting in a chilling effect on efforts to create perfect competition. In a fast-developing digital technology market, it is expected that the competition enforcement machinery will adopt measures that can be applied to dynamic competition. With the South Korean government bringing in a stricter legislation to control such misuse, would an attempt to shift from ex-post facto mechanism to an ex-ante framework afford a possible solution to bring in effective changes to circumscribe abuse of dominance in the digital marketspace? This paper tries to comparatively analyse the recent law passed by South Korea, nicknamed the “Anti-Google law”, and how India can take inspiration from it to implement changes to existing laws.

INDIVIDUAL LABOR DISPOSITIONE: COMPARATIVE RESEARCH BETWEEN LABOUR LAW OF VIETNAM AND SINGAPORE

The document deals with a comparison between labor law in Vietnam and labor law in Singapore. Here also the results are discussed distinguishing between the two state laws through the derived method of investigation. The positive impact of both laws on employment in the workplace is provided. This issue argues that despite being a "developing country" with a middle income rate, Vietnam has more "job provisions" and cares for its employees more effectively. Recent labor law reforms are probably responsible for this. Vietnam has signed a series of "free contract agreements" that have forced the government to reform its labor regulations. In Singapore, on the other hand, the role of "EA" has changed dramatically over time. The researchers used a derived qualitative method to obtain the data. This allows researchers to quickly access large amounts of information. The researchers used various journals to conduct derived research. In addition, the assets of various government websites were assessed. By using peer-reviewed journals, researchers can maintain article integrity in these circumstances. Furthermore, dispositione resolution in both Vietnam and Singapore effectively empowers their employees systematically and strategically to meet international standards of late.

Knowledge of the abortion law and key legal issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights among recently arrived migrants in Sweden: a cross-sectional survey

BackgroundSexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including access and information on the laws and policies related to abortion, varies considerably between countries. Migrants may have limited knowledge of SRHR and related resources in their new country. This study investigates migrants’ knowledge of the right to safe and legal abortion and other associated factors including the recent law on sexual consent, the legal age for sexual consent and age to marry in Sweden.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study from 2018 to 2019 among recent migrants attending high schools or Swedish language schools. Descriptive statistics were computed on the knowledge of the Swedish abortion law and other legal aspects. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess if migrants’ socio-demographic characteristics were associated with knowledge (i.e. correct/incorrect) of the Swedish abortion law and other key SRHR-related legal issues.ResultsOf the total 6,263 participants, 3,557 (57%) responded about whether it is legal to have an induced abortion in Sweden, and of these, 2,632 (74%) answered incorrectly. While more than half (61%) of the respondents knew the sexual consent law, nearly half (48%) did not know that sexual consent is also required for married couples. About 90% correctly responded that it is illegal to have sex with a minor (under the age of 15) and were aware of the legal age (18 years) to marry in Sweden. Incorrect knowledge of the Swedish abortion law was associated with being religious (adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 2.12; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.42–3.15), not having previous sexual health education (AOR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.38–2.05), coming from a country with predominantly restrictive abortion laws (AOR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.16–1.84), low level of education (AOR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.04–1.61) and having a temporary residence permit (AOR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.02–1.57).ConclusionWe found a substantial lack of knowledge among migrants of reproductive age in Sweden regarding important laws and policies of SRHR, particularly the right to abortion. SRHR-related programmes and comprehensive sexual health education for recently arrived migrants could include components to increase knowledge of legal and safe abortions and other laws concerning SRHR.

Lop-sided Laws: French Muslims and Laïcité

After dozens of attacks during the past ten years in which hundreds have been killed by French jihadists, it is often suggested that subversive attitudes towards the Republic and its code of laïcité are widespread among Muslims in France. Yet while Muslims are often at odds with recent laws that they consider to be unfairly targeted against them, those interviewed in opinion surveys express high levels of support for the code of laïcité as laid down in the law of 1905, which separated the state and its representatives from religious institutions while simultaneously safeguarding the right of members of civil society to express their religious beliefs not only privately but also in the public sphere. Very few Muslim girls were exercising their right to wear headscarves in state schools when these were banned in 2004, and very few women were wearing burkas until these in turn were banned in any public space in 2010. But these new laws have been perceived as Islamophobic not only by the tiny minorities who were wearing these garments but also by many other Muslims, in whose eyes these measures parallel other long-standing patterns of discrimination hindering their access to jobs, housing and other social goods.

The civic transformation of data privacy implementation in Europe

Recent data protection laws in the EU institutionalise NGO engagement with regulators and enable new mechanisms for bottom-up policy implementation. The article studies thirteen European NGOs and maps their contribution to policy implementation based on a novel typology for understanding their scope (national vs. transnational) and goals (direct vs. strategic) of actions. The article asks: (1) how do NGOs vary in their contribution to data privacy implementation in Europe? and (2) what are the implications of those variations for differentiated policy implementation? Through analyses of NGOs’ informational activities and GDPR complaints, the article finds that NGOs converge towards privileging a transnational strategic civic-enforcement model, prioritising pan-European privacy cases to alter policy implementation, over individual citizen advocacy and empowerment at the national level. Civic engagement has served to mitigate cross-border policy implementation disparities, while preserving considerable regulatory discretion nationally. Integrating NGOs into the analysis of differential privacy policy implementation helps in highlighting the evolving nature of EU civil liberties.

Jewish Civilizationism in Israel: A Unique Phenomenon

Populism and civilizationism have transformed the politics of many countries. Many scholars consider them the biggest challenges to democracy since the rise of fascism and communism in the first half of the last century. The close affinity between populism, civilizationism, and rightwing politics has also been analyzed and recognized in many countries from Turkey to India to the US. However, there are three areas that distinguish the appearance of civilizationism in Israel. First, in contrast to many other countries, civilizationism in Israel is not a new phenomenon. It has been an essential part of Israeli nationalism or Zionism since the early 20th century. Second, unlike many countries, Jewish civilizationism in Israel is an article of faith for all major Israeli political parties. It is not a slogan raised only by the rightwing, conservative part of the political spectrum. Finally, one observes an affinity between civilizationism and populism. Civilizational rhetoric is the mainstay of populist leaders, such as Trump, Erdogan, etc. In Israel, populism and civilizationism have no special relationship as civilizationism is mainstream politics. All politicians, populists and non-populists, have to pay homage to Jewish civilizationism; otherwise, they will not succeed. This paper analyzes the Israeli founding fathers’ statements, the Declaration of Independence, Israeli state symbols, the revival of the Hebrew language, the Law of Return, the first debate in the Knesset, and the more recent Nation-State Law to demonstrate how Jewish civilizationism is old, mainstream, and not exclusively populist.

Functional central limit theorems for Wigner matrices

We consider the fluctuations of regular functions f of a Wigner matrix W viewed as an entire matrix f(W). Going beyond the well-studied tracial mode, Trf(W), which is equivalent to the customary linear statistics of eigenvalues, we show that Trf(W)A is asymptotically normal for any nontrivial bounded deterministic matrix A. We identify three different and asymptotically independent modes of this fluctuation, corresponding to the tracial part, the traceless diagonal part and the off-diagonal part of f(W) in the entire mesoscopic regime, where we find that the off-diagonal modes fluctuate on a much smaller scale than the tracial mode. As a main motivation to study CLT in such generality on small mesoscopic scales, we determine the fluctuations in the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (Phys. Rev. A 43 (1991) 2046–2049), that is, prove that the eigenfunction overlaps with any deterministic matrix are asymptotically Gaussian after a small spectral averaging. Finally, in the macroscopic regime our result also generalizes (Zh. Mat. Fiz. Anal. Geom. 9 (2013) 536–581, 611, 615) to complex W and to all crossover ensembles in between. The main technical inputs are the recent multiresolvent local laws with traceless deterministic matrices from the companion paper (Comm. Math. Phys. 388 (2021) 1005–1048).

Freedom of Expression and Misinformation Laws During the COVID-19 Pandemic and the European Court of Human Rights

This article assesses the European Court of Human Rights’ possible responses to post-COVID-19 misinformation laws. These laws are intended to protect society but may become dangerous weapons if used by governments wishing to silence opponents. We identify four categories of speech restrictions that appeared during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then present the recent misinformation laws from Council of Europe member states as well as various potential arguments when cases appear before the Court, and assess their potential weight. We also analyze the expected post-pandemic development of the European Convention on Human Rights’ Article 10 jurisprudence.

Swiss estates and (offshore) trusts: information gathering—recent Swiss case law

Abstract Trustees, foundations, banks, asset managers or tax advisors are often confronted with information requests from heirs of a Swiss estate. In this article, the author provides an overview of the heirs’ rights to information under Swiss contract law and Swiss succession law. She then focuses on a recent decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (case 5A_30/2020), which addresses a claim for information by an executor against a financial institution in possession of trust information. The Swiss Supreme Court clarified in this decision on which basis an heir or an executor of a Swiss estate may lodge an information claim against a Swiss bank with regard to trust accounts or similar financial institutions holding financial information, of which the deceased was not the legal owner but only the beneficial owner.

The Latvian State imposes autocephaly by law on the Orthodox Church in Latvia

ABSTRACT: The article analyzes the recent Latvian Law by which the State unilaterally declares the autocephaly of the Latvian Orthodox Church. The latter was previously under the Patriarchate of Moscow and all Russias. In addition, the study illustrates the changes made to the Law of Latvia, on the legal status of this Church. Much emphasis is put on the violation of the principle of separation, enshrined in art. 99 of the Latvian Constitution, further addressing the tendency to change the ecclesiastical policy of the European Union as a result of the war in Ukraine.
 SUMMARY: 1. The State proclaims by law the autocephaly of the Latvian Orthodox Church - 2. Birth and development of the Latvian Orthodox Church - 3. The Religious Freedom Law and its amendments - 4. The Law on the Latvian Orthodox Church and the amendments made by the Saeima in 2019-2022 - 5. State legislative intervention, separatism and the Constitution - 6. Separatism, secularism and neo-jurisdictionalism in the European Union.

Aantekeninge: An update of recent labour law developments from South African courts 2023

Aantekeninge: An update of recent labour law developments from South African courts 2023

Flood insurance redesigned: Regulatory considerations for a viable and sustainable private market

Several factors have converged in recent years, bringing the need for admitted-market, private flood insurance options in the U.S. to the fore. Meanwhile, other factors have coincided that make modeling and pricing large segments of the U.S. flood risk exposures more accessible and more accurate than was historically possible. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), despite recent rating reforms, faces daunting financial and market challenges. The U.S. flood risk has increased: The risk of severe flooding and the cost of such events continues to grow. Flood loss models that can support granular pricing are now commercially available, outperforming the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) flood maps historically used for rating and loss mitigation purposes. Several states have begun encouraging admitted insurance markets to provide flood insurance in addition to the NFIP and the excess and surplus lines coverages already available. This paper examines the private market opportunity and challenges, highlights state-level strategies, and demonstrates the importance of flexibility in program legislation and regulation—with respect to both program design and implementation. Our work contributes to the literature by: 1)exploring the market challenges in the development of private flood insurance; 2)demonstrating the importance of local risk considerations and flexible program features for state-level, private strategies that provide a sustainable framework for insurers to consider; and 3) highlighting the alignment of recent model laws and several state programs with the recommended features.

Intersection of Language, Gender, Race, and Its Impact on Psychological Safety for Black Anglophone Women in the Québec Workplace

Aim/Purpose: This research aims to assess the extent to which discourse around representation in the Quebec workplace aligns with the experiences of Black Anglophone women. Background: There is a persistent lack of quantitative and qualitative data on Quebec’s English-speaking Black Community (ESBC). With the increase in implementation of diverse, equitable, and inclusive policies in the workplace, and recent French-language laws, it is crucial to collect current and meaningful data on the community’s experiences. Methodology: Data collection methods included interviews, surveys, and content analysis. Interviews were conducted with a small, diverse group of eight (8) Black Anglophone women aged 18-65. Findings: Québec’s language politics creates additional barriers for Black Anglophone women in the workplace, even in a working French proficiency environment. The language social stratification hinders their work quality even after Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion policies have secured them a position. Impact on Society: The volatile language politics in Québec intersect uniquely with gender and race, further shifting the goalpost for Black Anglophone women's full inclusion in the workplace. By fostering and encouraging discourse they can identify aspects of psychological safety, empowering themselves and their communities to navigate work environments more effectively.

Aplicação de um Engenheiro de Registro (EoR) em barragens de acúmulo de água: benefícios na segurança

ABSTRACT The dam safety depends heavily on the organizational structure, the developer’s philosophy, and the involved actor’s technical responsibility. In this context, the present research aimed to: introduce the concept of Engineer of Record (EoR); discuss their influence on the continuous improvement of dam safety, propose a work plan for this professional applicable to water storage dams, and estimate the costs associated with their team. Since mining dams have experienced recent accidents, safety laws, and methodologies are more stringent for these structures. Therefore, based on this experience, a list of actions for the EoR was proposed, targeted explicitly at water storage dams, divided into two stages: the first to comply with the National Dam Safety Policy (NDSP); and the second focused on the continuous improvement of the safety of these structures. Additionally, a cost estimate was conducted, resulting in a value of $ 0.15 per m3 consumed for implementing an EoR team.

Land Law and Land Use

ABSTRACT: This article, which is part of the North–South Legal Mapping Project, considers land law and land use in each jurisdiction on the island of Ireland. The first part provides a sketch of the basic structures of land law, identifying a remarkable level of convergence (or, more accurately, absence of divergence), which is only partially qualified by recent comprehensive land law reform in Ireland, notwithstanding the absence of comparable reforms in Northern Ireland. The second part considers land use, where there is greater (and increasing) potential for divergence, particularly in environmental governance. The article sketches and explains core influencing factors that have shaped the evolution of environmental governance on the island to date, before considering how Brexit and subsequent developments impact regulatory alignment across the island. It focuses on the issue of water protection and river basin management, in light of the three transboundary river basins on the island.

Knowledge, Moral Attitude, and Practice of Nursing Students Toward Abortion.

In 2021, Thailand decriminalized abortions to allow for legal abortions on request up to 12 weeks' gestation and conditionally up to 20 weeks' gestation, or in the case of sexual assault, maternal mental or physical harm, or fetal abnormality. We intend to say that healthcare practitioners' positive attitudes toward abortion will destigmatize abortion for both themselves and their patients. We explored the knowledge, attitudes, and intended practices of nursing students toward safe abortion practices in light of the recent law reform. This was a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 4 parts: a demographic information questionnaire; and measures to assess their knowledge, moral attitudes, and intended practice regarding safe abortion care. Questionnaires were sent to 206 nursing students who had completed the Midwifery and Maternal-Newborn Nursing rotation in Bangkok, Thailand. The survey response rate was 90.8%. Mean (standard deviation) knowledge score was 6.72 (1.86) out of 10. Buddhist students were more likely to have a positive attitude toward abortions. Most students intended to practice safe abortions in pregnancies that affect maternal physical or mental health, or in pregnancies that resulted from unlawful sexual contact. Students were more ambivalent toward abortion practices for socioeconomic reasons. Better knowledge of abortion legislation was associated with a more positive attitude toward abortions and safe abortion practice intention. Approximately 1 year after the abortion law reform in Thailand, nursing students had incomplete knowledge of the amendment. Most students were inclined to provide abortion care services for certain conditions.

Prescribed burning on private land: reflections on recent law reform in Australia and California

Background Prescribed fire is a critical tool for building resilience to changing fire regimes. Policymakers can accelerate the development of effective, adaptation-oriented fire governance by learning from other jurisdictions. Aims We analyse reforms to prescribed fire governance to highlight improvements for fire hazard reduction and resilience. Methods We searched legislative registers in New South Wales (NSW), Australia and California, United States, identifying Bills tabled between 2011 and 2022 that mention the terms ‘prescribed (fire or burn)’ or ‘controlled (fire or burn)’. We reviewed the eight relevant Bills from NSW and 67 Bills from California to identify and thematically code reforms relevant to private landowners. Key results We found three primary themes across relevant legislative proposals: (1) reforms to simplify permitting and regulatory approval processes (primarily in Australia); (2) efforts to mitigate the risk of legal liability for escaped burns (primarily in California); and (3) recent recognition of and support for cultural burns (primarily in California). Conclusions Expanding prescribed burning on private land remains an ongoing challenge in NSW and California but recent reforms indicate greater attention, and jurisdiction-specific approaches, to this challenge. Implications Despite differing governance arrangements, California and NSW offer important insights for improving climate-adaptive governance of prescribed fire.

REMNANTS OF OTTOMAN LAW AND ITS APPLICATION IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES IN LEBANON AND THE ARAB WORLD

At the beginning of the sixteenth century (1516), the Ottomans controlled all the lands that are today within the Lebanese Republic, and their existence lasted for four hundred years, during which they established military, security, administrative and social systems and enacted laws to improve and organize the country. Although five centuries have passed since the Ottoman presence in Lebanon, some of these laws are still in force. Some have been amended, such as the personal status law related to Islamic Law, some administrative regulations, and the municipal ordinance that the French updated during the Mandate days (1920-1943). While Ottoman laws are still strictly enforced in Lebanon, such as the Associations Law. Two sources, one legal and the other specialized in Islamic history, confirm in two separate interviews to Anadolu Agency the importance of these laws for Lebanon since their enactment until today. "Not everything old is considered bad. For example, but not limited to, the Associations Law is an Ottoman law that enshrines freedom of association and respects Article 13 of the Constitution, and despite its promulgation in 1909, it has been considered a liberal law to date," says Appeals Lawyer Zakaria Yahya beast. Al-Ghoul added: "The Law of Associations is one of the most important laws issued during the Ottoman period. It is still in force to date, and it is the one who looks after the affairs of associations and how they are formed in Lebanon and the Arabs World. He pointed out that "there is a legislative decree issued in 1977, which is compared to the Ottoman Law of Associations as a recent law, but it allowed the pre-trial detention of journalists." He continued, "From here, this comparison makes us say that the problem does not lie in the extent of the laws' antiquity, but rather in the extent to which they meet the objectives of the current legal rules."

Witch Allegation in Nepal: A Case Study in Tamang Community of Kavrepalanchok District

Even in the 21st century, discrimination in Nepal due to witch allegations is seen as a social evil. The continued people’s movement has changed the political system but has not been able to change the attitude, faith, behavior, and social distortions of the Nepali people. As a result, people are involved in heinous and inhumane activities such as witch accusations. This study aims to explore this inhuman activity seen in the Tamang community which is one of the marginalized and disadvantaged groups in the Kavrepalanchok district in Nepal. The study of this phenomenon of witch accusations from the social point of view and perspective is another supportive objective of this study and to draw the attention of all key stakeholders to the significant scale, severity, complexity faced by Tamang women. Qualitative research with empirical & social perspectives based on both primary and secondary data has been used. Generally, the poor, miserable, helpless, ugly-faced, single women, widows, Dalits, Janajati, untouchables, etc. are mostly suspected of being witch allegations without any justice and proof in our context. Once, they are accused, it is difficult for the victims to stay in society for the rest of their life. However, recent laws have identified it as a social evil and strictly banned discrimination and accused the people on the ground of the witch allegations but in practice, the incident is still increasing. Thus, witches are the byproduct of the beliefs of witchcraft and the practices of witch allegations. This study helped to draw the attention of the policymakers, planners, local-level governments, and the elite group of the society to review policies and practices to overcome the society combating such inhuman activities.