Security Legislation Research Articles

HGSSA-bi LSTM: A Secure Multimodal Biometric Sensing Using Optimized Bi-Directional Long Short-Term Memory with Self-Attention

Biometric sensing technology has become a frequent element of everyday life as a result of the global demand for information security and safety legislation. In recent years, multimodal biometrics technology has become increasingly popular due to its ability to overcome the shortcomings of unimodal biometric systems. A HGSSA-Bi LSTM (Bi-directional long short-term memory) modal is presented in this paper for multimodal biometric identification. For removal of noise (unwanted) the pre-processing stage is used in the initial stage. An extended cascaded filter (ECF) is used with a combination of median and wiener filter in the pre-processing stage. Then, using the CNN model, feature extraction is utilized to extract features from the processed images. After feature extraction, fusing of feature is used with the aid of discriminant correlation analysis (DCA). Finally, the recognition process is performed by using the novel optimized hunger game search self-attention based Bi-LSTM model (HGSSA-Bi LSTM). The obtained outcome for the developed model is finally compared with other previous approaches such as CNN, RNN, DNN, and autoencoder models and the calculated performance based on accuracy 98.5%, precision 98%, F1-score 97.5%, sensitivity 98.5%, and specificity 99% accordingly.

Heterogeneous decentralised machine unlearning with seed model distillation

AbstractAs some recent information security legislation endowed users with unconditional rights to be forgotten by any trained machine learning model, personalised IoT service providers have to put unlearning functionality into their consideration. The most straightforward method to unlearn users' contribution is to retrain the model from the initial state, which is not realistic in high throughput applications with frequent unlearning requests. Though some machine unlearning frameworks have been proposed to speed up the retraining process, they fail to match decentralised learning scenarios. A decentralised unlearning framework called heterogeneous decentralised unlearning framework with seed (HDUS) is designed, which uses distilled seed models to construct erasable ensembles for all clients. Moreover, the framework is compatible with heterogeneous on‐device models, representing stronger scalability in real‐world applications. Extensive experiments on three real‐world datasets show that our HDUS achieves state‐of‐the‐art performance.

Antonín Švehla a pozapomenuté diskuze, osnovy a návrhy realizovaných i nerealizovaných zákonodárných projektů jeho doby

The article deals with selected forgotten discussions on legal and sub-legal projects in period 1918–1929 when Antonín Švehla held important state executive positions. It draws attention to the importance of Antonín Švehla for the legislation and interpretation of law, and also tries to highlight specific significant projects from that period that are important for the trends in the development of legal sectors, especially in the sectors of labour law and social security in Czechoslovakia. The article provides some new insights into the history of law in the Czech lands in the first half of the 20th century, e.g., the considerations on the creation of the Labour Code as early as in the 1920s, the public law aspects of labour law and their abandonment, efforts to unify social security legislation, etc. It refers to the important institutions that were to influence the shape of commercial and trade law, as well as labour relations, at the beginning of the Czechoslovak Republic. The efforts to abolish the death penalty are also mentioned in the article. The article does not limit itself to normativity, but also considers interest, socio-economic and other extra-legal influences on the shape of the legal order.

Peculiarities of the Application of Information and Communication Technologies for Distance Learning of the Canadian Border Guard Service Personnel

The paper reveals the peculiarities of the development of distance education in Canadian educational institutions. The specifics of distance learning in the most popular land-based and virtual universities in different provinces of Canada are highlighted. The main tasks of distance education in the Canadian higher education system are identified. The key problems that hinder the development of distance education at the international level are identified. It is proved that distance learning in Canada is successfully integrated into the educational process and is aimed at training highly qualified specialists in various fields. It is known that due to changes in security legislation in 2001, the practice of visiting different checkpoints was cancelled. It is proved that Second Life is an online world in which users (residents) create avatars and interact with other participants, places or objects. It was noted that a virtual border crossing point was created using Second Life to train cadets to conduct interviews with people crossing the border at checkpoints to Canada. It has been researched that in order to enroll in distance learning and continuing education courses, certain requirements must be met. It is indicated that distance education offers hundreds of courses available on a monthly or semester basis. The article describes the distance learning course "Border Services" on the website, which is divided into two parts. It is known that the first part of the course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the activities and functions of the Canada Border Services Agency and the second one is to provide students with an understanding of Canadian citizenship and immigration.

РОЛЬ ЯПОНО-АМЕРИКАНСКОГО СОЮЗА ВО ВНЕШНЕЙ ПОЛИТИКЕ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ЯПОНИИ

An analysis of the dynamics of Japan’s foreign policy and defense strategies in the last decade is presented. Key changes in security legislation, economic agreements are studied. Economic agreements and the dynamics of relations between Japan and the United States in recent years are considered.

Ensuring employment of the population: international legal standards and national experience

The article examines a number of international regulatory acts containing the main legal standards in the field of ensuring employment of the population, combating unemployment and social security of a person in connection with the loss of a person's job for reasons beyond his control. It is noted that these areas of legal regulation are directly related to the right to work, the effective prohibition of discrimination and forced labor, as well as the right to free personal development and decent work. The change in trends in the social policy of the states is monitored from the simple support of a sufficient living standard of the unemployed through the provision of state or insurance benefits to the state employment policy, which stimulates employment based on professional orientation, choosing a profession with maximum consideration of natural abilities and already acquired skills, opportunities for professional training, retraining and advanced training, building a system of professional education in accordance with the needs of the labor market, etc. International legal standards, which are the basis for the development of the legal system of any modern state, determine the directions of reforming both the legal system as a whole and its individual branches. Accordingly, the labor and social security legislation of Ukraine is also developing in line with global and European trends. In particular, already during the years of independence, legislation on employment and social protection of the unemployed has undergone significant reforms, increasingly approaching the high standards of ensuring human rights in this area. The revision of the 2012 Law of Ukraine "On Employment of the Population" was a significant progressive step, as it provided for a number of measures to stimulate productive employment, help young people get their first job, and regulated the procedure for employment of foreign citizens in Ukraine. This Law and the relevant regulatory documents are subject to constant changes, especially in the last few years in connection with the problems of the pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19 in the period of 2020-21 and the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine from February 2022 to the present . It should be noted that the cooperation of the legislative and executive branches of government with experts of specialized international organizations brings positive results, as Ukrainian legal norms are increasingly approaching recognized international standards, in particular, the standards of the European Union, in which the main goal is to ensure human rights, respect for the individual, human dignity and equality of treatment in the spheres of employment and professional education.

Navigating the Social Security Landscape in India: a Broad Analysis

Social security and labor laws in India are intended to protect the rights and the well-being of workers. These laws cover many topics, including employment conditions, wages, health and safety, social security benefits, and more. In India, the evolution of social security legislation has been slow, with many laws and changes enacted throughout the years to address the social and economic demands of employees and their families. Here, the social security regulations are largely centered on the Social Security Code, which was implemented as part of labor code amendments in 2020. The Social Security Code strives to offer a comprehensive framework for employees and their families to receive social security payments. However, before this code, there were other significant landmark rulings and measures enacted to safeguard the laborers. This research paper will provide an overview of all the different laws that have been put in place to benefit employees since the awakening of the labor movement. Incorporating evidence from catalogs, historical judgments, gazettes, and other such articles, the paper provides a full and complete understanding of the history, timeline, and all the different laws that have been put in place for laborers under the guise of social security and whether all such statutes are being used for their intended purpose or if any specific areas can be improved.

Libraries and National Security: A Review of the Evidence and a Proposed New Strategic Direction

The article aims to identify and discuss the various roles that libraries hold with regard to national security and to use the findings to propose a more clearly delineated future role for the global and national communities which reconciles these diverse and sometimes conflicting roles. The review of literature revealed that the roles of libraries with regard to national security fall mainly into two categories. That which has received most attention, mainly in the U.S. context, involves co-operation with the provisions of national security legislation which relate to libraries and their users and, relatedly, advocating for limits on these policies to protect the rights of citizens. The other main category comprises ways in which libraries have been shown to actively strengthen national security, such as ensuring equality of access to information and the digital literacy education necessary to understand it, providing safe community spaces where democratic values can be developed and shared, and disseminating information about national security threats to governments and citizens alike. The article is expected to be of considerable value in demonstrating how libraries can work together internationally and with national governments to help promote national security while ensuring that the rights of library users are also protected
 Keywords: Public Libraries, National Security, Information Specialists, IFLA, Information Dissemination, Legislations, Advocacy Role.

THE NATURE AND AMBIT OF THE INTIMIDATION OFFENCE S v White 2022 (2) SACR 511 (FB)

The offence of intimidation has been associated with controversy, particularly because of the historical link between the Intimidation Act (72 of 1982) and the legislative machinations of the apartheid regime. In the words of Gamble J, the Act may be regarded as “a piece of apartheid order legislation introduced at a time of increasingly repressive internal security legislation designed to criminalise conduct, largely in the field of resistance politics” (Sandlana v Minister of Police 2023 (2) SACR 84 (WCC) par 34). The nature and ambit of the intimidation offence has once again come under scrutiny in the recent case of S v White (2022 (2) SACR 511 (FB)). The decision in this case is examined here in the context of a general assessment of the offence. The offence can now only be committed by contravening section 1(1)(a) of the Act, as the Constitutional Court has struck down the section 1(1)(b) provision (as well as section 1(2)) as unconstitutional in Moyo v Minister of Police (2020 (1) SACR 373 (CC)), a development confirmed by the amendment of the Act by the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Amendment Act (23 of 2022). (Some are of the view that the Constitutional Court could have gone further (Burchell Principles of Criminal Law 5ed (2016) 593–594).) However, for the purposes of the discussion that follows, it is useful to cite the full section 1(1) provision prior to amendment.

Foreign experience of legal regulation of social protection of self-employed persons and the possibility of its use in Ukraine

Employment of the population is one of the central problems not only in Ukraine, but also in the whole world. Achieving its high level is one of the main goals of any state. One of its forms is self-employment, which today is caused by the economic crisis associated with the war in the country, the consequence of which is the increase in the level of unemployment and the limitation of the demand for hired labor; low level of wages at state-owned enterprises; the formation of a market worldview, which as a result poses a real threat to state and social well-being. The purpose of the article is to analyze the experience of foreign countries regarding the legal regulation of social protection of self-employed persons and the possibility of its use in Ukraine. It was concluded that self-employment is regulated by a broad regulatory framework. At the same time, the lack of regulation by the main acts of labor legislation and legislation in the field of social security was noted. Attention is focused on the need to develop a separate legislative act. And in this, the experience of Germany, where the Social Code (“Sozialgesetzbuch”) has been developed, which consists of 12 chapters regulating certain types of social security, will be useful. In particular, the systematization of social legislation according to the German model would involve two directions: the adoption of the Code of Ukraine on social protection, the content of which would be formed from current laws and subordinate regulatory legal acts; and coordination of its content with other acts of social legislation that are not part of it. At the same time, the Code should provide separate provisions that would regulate issues related to social protection of such a category of subjects of social security law as self­employed persons. That is, it is expedient to reform the social security legislation on the basis of successful foreign experience. It is also necessary to use the positive experience of foreign countries in the process of creating specialized programs for the support and development of self-employment. We are convinced that only under such conditions can most of the problems that arise in the researched area be solved.

A Blockchain-Based Access Control Scheme for Zero Trust Cross-Organizational Data Sharing

Multi-organization data sharing is becoming increasingly prevalent due to the interconnectivity of systems and the need for collaboration across organizations (e.g., exchange of data in a supply chain involving multiple upstream and downstream vendors). There are, however, data security concerns due to lack of trust between organizations that may be located in jurisdictions with varying security and privacy legislation and culture (also referred to as a zero trust environment). Hence, in such a zero trust setting, one should introduce strengthened, yet efficient, access control mechanisms to facilitate cross-organizational data access and exchange requests. Contemporary access control schemes generally focus on protecting a single objective rather than multiple parties, due to higher security costs. In this article, we propose a blockchain-based access control scheme, designed to facilitate lightweight data sharing among different organizations. Specifically, our approach utilizes the consortium blockchain to establish a trustworthy environment, in which a Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) model is then deployed using our proposed multi-signature protocol and smart contract methods. Evaluation of our proposed approach is performed on the HyperLedger Fabric consortium blockchain platform using both Caliper and BFT-SMaRT benchmarks, and the findings demonstrate the utility of our approach.

Europe’s security of gas supply legislation – a short legal history and latest developments

The security of Europe’s gas supply has been the subject of much debate. The focus, however, is often on technical or economical considerations. This article is the first to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of legislative aspects of the security of gas supply to Europe. It uses the three core components of energy security – availability, reliability and affordability – as a tool to shed light on the historical development of gas security legislation in Europe. Starting with the late 1960s, the article distinguishes three broad phases of legislative activities over the last several decades, namely an early phase, a consolidation phase and a third phase of increasing Europeanisation and oversight. The article concludes with some recommendations, amongst them an increased focus of future legislative activities in the field on affordability of the gas supply for all European consumers.

Labour market rigidity and total factor productivity: a re-examination of the evidence from India

ABSTRACT The existing empirical studies concerning labour market rigidity associated with the labour laws in India suggest an adverse impact of rigidity on total factor productivity (TFP). In this paper, we improve upon both the measurement of spatiotemporal variation in labour market flexibility and plant-level TFP from production function estimates in the presence of institutional rigidity in labour inputs adjustment due to job security legislation based on the recent advancement in the literature. We use an unbalanced panel of manufacturing plants from the Annual Survey of Industries panel data from 1999–2000 to 2016–17 to analyse the relationship between labour market rigidity/flexibility and TFP. We find that establishments that fall under the purview of job security legislation have higher productivity than those outside the ambit of job security legislation. The results suggest that rigidity associated with job security provisions does not harm TFP, and higher flexibility is negatively associated with TFP. However, we find considerable heterogeneity in the flexibility–TFP relationship across various industry groups. The heterogeneity in the flexibility–TFP relationship suggests that flexibility-inducing labour policy may improve TFP in some industries and, at the same time, decrease it in others.

The Financial Action Task Force entrapped within hypocrisy and rhetoric: using India as a case study

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the FATF and its relationship with other normative frameworks (security, human rights), and actors (states, private institutions, civil society). It explains how the FATF, was appropriated willingly by states, beyond the peer-pressure, or financial repercussions explanations. It finds that one of these reasons was that states could use them to their own benefit through ‘rhetorical adaptation’. At the same time, it explains that the FATF’s frameworks go beyond merely being ‘vague and broad’; they are erroneous in terms of their methodology and contradict certain human rights such as the freedom of association, and the rights to due procedure. To illustrate this, it takes the case of India which has been coerced by the FATF to amend its security legislations to comply with its standards, but which has also instrumentally used these standards against minorities and political dissenters – particularly those that have organized themselves into some form of association (a segment specifically identified by the FATF as being vulnerable to money laundering and financing terrorism). Despite drawing attention to these issues, the FATF continues to operate with empty promises, and the standards continue to be supported and endorsed by the UN mechanisms, in what would otherwise be ‘hypocrisy’. This is because the FATF and the UN too, operate within institutional and material limitations – in this case, that its primary members are states or (in fact) representatives of the states, for whom security and political expediency stand at the forefront. Under these circumstances, the organizational doublespeak is but necessary.

Problems of protecting social security rights in countries Eurasian Economic Union: individual aspects

The entry of an employee into an employment relationship and the exercise of labor activity is associated with the acquisition by the employee of insurance and work experience, including special work experience, the acquisition of which then becomes the basis for the emergence of social security rights, in particular, the right to a pension, an allowance, social assistance, social services. Citizens of the Russian Federation work in the post-Soviet countries, in particular, in the Republic of Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, or Kyrgyzstan, which are members of the Eurasian Economic Union, an international organization of regional economic integration with international legal personality. The study of the problems of the application of the norms of social security legislation of both the Union and national jurisdictional bodies of the EAEU countries in the process of resolving social security disputes, allows us to identify conflicts, defects of this legislation, raise the question of optimizing laws, both on at the level of an international organization, as well as the legislation of the states that are members of this organization.

A Paradigm Shift for Hong Kong’s National Security Constitution – A Comparative Study of the Impact of Its National Security Law

Abstract The Chinese national legislature has enacted a national security law (NSL) for Hong Kong. This paper applies the theory of national security constitution as developed by Professor Koh to examine the impact of the NSL upon four core constitutional principles in Hong Kong’s mini-constitution which underly its national security constitution and to evaluate the nature of the impact. The paper argues that the NSL has, instead of applying and supplementing the existing underlying constitutional principles in the mini-constitution, changed them to various degrees, and the pre-NSL bifurcated national security system for Hong Kong and mainland China has been replaced by an integrated national security system under the NSL. The impact caused by the NSL is so significant as to amount to a permanent paradigm shift to a new post-NSL national security constitution. The paper also argues that the theory of national security constitution has its limitation in its application to subnational Hong Kong because its mini-constitution and the underlying principles therein can be modified by national legislation, such as the NSL, of its sovereign, China. Through a comparative study with the USA, the paper proposes that the theory of national security constitution needs to be modified by adding that different effects may occur to a sub-national national security constitution depending on the source of the framework national security legislation. Hong Kong’s failure in its constitutional duty to enact national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law has led to the enactment of the NSL by China. Such legislation from the sovereign has changed the underlying constitutional principles and is fundamentally different from sub-national framework legislation that only implements and supplements those principles. However, a comparative study with Macau indicates that the theory of national security constitution is still applicable to a sub-national entity such as Macau so long as China as sovereign exercises self-restraint and any framework national security legislation is enacted at the sub-national level.

The role of citizens' social security in maintaining the national security of the Russian Federation

The subject of the study is the analysis of the dynamics of social security legislation in modern Russia, the development and reliability of which directly affects the internal stability and national security in the country. The author examines in detail the issue of increasing the role of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the social security of citizens on the example of recent events that have affected social stability within the country, such as the coronavirus infection and the conduct of a special military operation. The choice of subjects to whom social security is directed depends not only on subjective factors (low-income, disability, marital status, many children), but also on the geopolitical, economic situation and other factors. At the same time, the author assesses the trend of regionalization, given that social security is under the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and its regions. The author has identified the tendency of regionalization of social security legislation, which has positive and negative sides, reflecting on the level of social security of citizens. The author concluded that there should not be extremes in the form of passive adaptation of the regions or, on the contrary, their exclusive initiative in the social security of citizens. The initiative and participation of the subjects of the Russia today are key, while we should not forget about subjective factors (the speed of managerial decision-making, the quality of work of the system of authorities of the regions, the presence of necessary structures/organizations in it), taking into account which it is necessary to build a system of productive interaction, where the state assumes the main role. It is this approach to the legal regulation of social security of citizens that can ensure social security and preserve stability and security within the country.

The economic impact of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: A case study of the Bajju Sub-Division of Bikaner District in Rajasthan

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a program for poverty alleviation and an employment generation which provides employment to rural unskilled labourers. It can provide a guarantee of 100 days’ paid employment in a financial year to a rural unskilled labourer who demands it. The program also helps to reduce hunger in rural India. It is different from earlier wage employment programs because it provides a guarantee for work, whereas earlier programs had no such provisions. This paper analyses the employment, consumption and income effects of MGNREGA, including the resulting increase in the purchasing power of rural labourers, after its introduction in the rural area. It also examines the economic and social impact of the scheme in rural areas due to asset creation as result of employment provided by MGNREGA. Lastly, the paper examines the impact of MGNREGA on women’s employment and how MGNREGA changed women’s income, employment and consumption patterns, which can be argued to be indicative of female empowerment. This study concludes that MGNREGA brought positive change to the lives of people in the rural area that was examined. MGNREGA, a landmark in the history of social security legislation in India or indeed anywhere in the world, promises to be a major tool in the struggle for securing employment guarantees in rural areas. The 100-day employment scheme, which came as a bolt from the blue, raised the living standards of rural India in terms of income, employment and consumption. Overall, the study found that MGNREGA has significantly improved the social and economic well-being of its beneficiaries in rural India.

에너지 위기 시대의 에너지 안보 확립을 위한 법적 과제

Although energy security is a crucial issue for realizing national security, whenever an energy supply & demand crisis occurs, discussions on overcoming the crisis have been fragmentary. This is not irrelevant to the understanding and approach of energy security from a traditional viewpoint as saving energy sources. The energy crisis can come again anytime due to various factors, such as the climate crisis and changes in external situations. At this point, when uncertainties surrounding energy supply & demand are increasing, energy security can no longer be established with the same approach. Therefore, an in-depth discussion is needed on the change of approach to the concept of energy security and the arrangement of the legal basis to establish energy security through this change. In general, energy security is “guaranteeing sufficient energy supply at an appropriate price,” so, availability and affordability of the energy are critical. However, since energy security is also part of the national energy policy, it should not be understood differently in its direction. Given that Korea and the rest of the world have set common policy goals in the energy sector to respond to the climate crisis and achieve carbon neutrality, it is necessary to consider 'Environmental Sustainability' in establishing energy security. Countries that are not rich in energy resources, such as Germany and Japan, are already seeking measures to establish energy security, such as stockpiling fossil fuels, diversification of supply chains, and expansion of renewable energy. In this process, it is worth noting that the relevant countries are systematically approaching the short-term and mid- to long-term perspectives in connection with their energy policies and are arranging applicable laws and regulations necessary to establish energy security. Korea's energy security- related legislation, centered on individual laws, makes it difficult to respond effectively to the uncertain energy resource market due to its disconnected approach, such that it has fundamental limitations not being able to view the overall supplementation among energy sources. In addition, the current energy security legislation is focused on the means of post-counteraction rather than prevention of energy crises. In order to solve these problems, in addition to the arrangement of individual laws, a system for overall energy-related laws and integrated legislation to establish energy resource security, and distributed energy activation legislation should be enacted simultaneously considering the expansion of renewable energy.

The role of platforms in diffracting education professionalities

This paper examines the effect of data management platforms on professional educators. The ways in which platforms re-shape new professional patterns of school leaders and education bureaucrats is presented through the data management platform, OneSchool. OneSchool is used across 1,258 public schools in Queensland, Australia. Empirical data were gathered from interviews with senior bureaucrats, policy officers, and school leaders from Queensland’s public schooling system. Thematic analysis identified shifts in educational practitioners’ professional roles as they performed their tasks through OneSchool. Analysis of traditional school roles and tasks on the one hand and demands of online security and information privacy legislations on the other were brought together in an access assemblage. Access was provided by the authorized allocation of ‘roles’ embedded into the platform’s technical code. A dual perspective of the development and use of the OneSchool platform is used to show how educational behaviors, skills and qualities are mutually constitutive of platformized professionalities. To make sense of these platformized professionalities, a diffraction lens is employed, derived from Barad’s (2007) considerations within new feminist materialism and physics. Recalling Foucault’s (1983) adage that everything is dangerous rather than bad, this paper provides insight into the positive and negative ways platforms disrupt and re-shape educational practitioners and their professionalities.