Soft Law Regulation Research Articles

Constructing a Socio-Legal Framework Proposal for Governing Large Language Model Usage and Application in Education

Due to the fast-changing environments caused by artificial intelligence development, the socio-technical challenge in contemporary educational systems focuses on the need for more regulative measures guiding system stakeholders’ behavior. In fulfilling the present legal gap, enacted soft law regulation has been laid out, and a detailed systematic literature review was conducted in the paper presented. The specific methodological approach was selected to deal with two crucial research tasks: to reveal and recommend fundamental governing mechanisms regarding the use and application of generative artificial intelligence; more precisely, large language models in educational systems. Three systematically guided layers of quantitative and qualitative content analysis of central policy, legislation, and regulatory mechanisms in governing AI in education were extracted from the 142 Scopus Database and Web of Science research papers analyzed and presented. These research findings benefit policymakers, regulatory and legislative bodies, and agencies in constructing governing frames for using and applying generative artificial intelligence in education.

Međunarodni institut za unifikaciju privatnog prava i ugovorno pravo reosiguranja

Within the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), the idea of working on an instrument of reinsurance contract law existed since the 30’s in the twentieth century. However, the final realization of this project happened only in 2019 with the publication of the Principles of Reinsurance Contract Law and in cooperation with the so-called PRICL Project Group. This harmonization endeavor is special in many ways, considering that in addition to the application of a specific bottom-up method of law creation, there was also an innovative approach in the use of a successful soft law regulation - the UNIDROIT Principles for International Commercial Contracts as lex generalis in relation to the new adopted regulation for the field of reinsurance. The author analyzes the relationship between the two mentioned acts in general, but also regarding the crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus pandemic. The paper also analyzes the contribution of the Principles of Reinsurance Contract Law to legal certainty and the characteristic role that the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law plays in the process of legal harmonization, and more specifically in the process of reinsurance contract law harmonization.

Soft law regulation and labour rights reporting: a deficit in moral legitimacy?

ABSTRACT This paper compares and contrasts British and German transnational corporations’ (TNCs) reporting on the labour rights of workers in their global value chains (GVCs) for the years 2012 and 2018, using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines – an initiative that comes under the category of soft law regulation. Between these dates, regulatory changes took place in Britain and in the EU which had relevance to the reporting of labour rights issues more generally. Simultaneously the GRI reporting guidelines shifted to more flexible requirements in the transition from G3.1 to G4. This paper examines the consequences of these changes and finds that, in combination, these changes did not lead TNCs to improving the labour rights reporting. The paper suggests that even though reporting to international guidelines tends to be context-based, there was some convergence in this broadly negative outcome. This all suggests that there was an element of regulatory capture in the shifts to softer regulatory regimes. Conceptually, this points to a reduction in substantive disclosures and leads to a deficit in moral legitimacy and its displacement by more pragmatic legitimacy.

Information and support to patients when the waiting time guarantee cannot be fulfilled: a qualitative study

BackgroundLong waiting times for health care services are a prominent health policy issue. Waiting time guarantees may limit time to assessment and treatment.MethodsThis study aims to investigate the information and support given to patients when the waiting time guarantee cannot be fulfilled from a care provider and administrative management perspective. Semi-structured interviews (N = 28) were conducted with administrative management and care providers (clinic staff and clinic line managers) in specialized clinics in the Stockholm Region, Sweden. Clinics were purposefully sampled for maximum variation in ownership (private, public), complexity of care, geographical location, volume of production, and waiting times. Thematic analysis was applied.ResultsCare providers reported that patients received inconsistent information and support with regard to the waiting time guarantee and that information was not adapted to health literacy or individual patient needs. Contrary to local law, they made some patients responsible for finding a new care provider or arranging a new referral. Furthermore, financial interests affected whether patients were referred to other providers. Administrative management steered care providers’ informing practices at specific time points (upon establishment of a new unit and after six months of operation). A specific regional support function, Region Stockholm’s Care Guarantee Office, helped patients change care providers when long waiting times occurred. However, administrative management perceived that there was no established routine to assist care providers in informing patients.ConclusionsCare providers did not consider patients’ health literacy when informing them about the waiting time guarantee. Administrative management’s attempts to provide information and support to care providers are not producing the results they expect. Soft-law regulations and care contracts seem insufficient, and economic mechanisms undermine care providers’ willingness to inform patients. The described actions are unable to mitigate the inequality in health care that arises from differences in care-seeking behavior.

Legal Risk in Insurance Intermediarys Activity in Poland

The aim of the article is to identify legal risk and key areas and factors to determine the activity of insurance intermediaries in Poland, who conduct their activity in conditions defined by both hard and soft law regulations. The author mainly focuses on such activities of insurance intermediaries that are directly related to insurance distribution. Legal risks cover events that create uncertainty about the realization of hazards resulting from legal environment in a broad sense, which constitute a threat to the entity conducting activities aimed at achieving concrete economic targets. From the point of view of an insurance intermediary acting as an insurance distributor, legal risks together with compliance risk seem to be crucial from the perspective of the threat level and possible consequences thereof. The protection against the effects of these risks requires taking appropriate steps in the risk management process adopted by individual companies. These activities are hindered by a variety of negative phenomena occurring on the insurance market, including the overregulation and legal instability. The implementation of the compliance idea and the legal risk management program by an entity conducting brokerage and agency activities mitigates the risk of illegal practices, and consequently reduces threats arising from areas generating legal risks.

Hard Law and Soft Law Regulations of Artificial Intelligence in Investment Management

AbstractArtificial Intelligence (‘AI’) technologies present great opportunities for the investment management industry (as well as broader financial services). However, there are presently no regulations specifically aiming at AI in investment management. Does this mean that AI is currently unregulated? If not, which hard and soft law rules apply?Investments are a heavily regulated industry (MIFID II, UCITS IV and V, SM&CR, GDPR etc). Most regulations are intentionally technology-neutral. These regulations are legally binding (hard law). Recent years saw the emergence of regulatory and industry publications (soft laws) focusing specifically on AI. In this Article we analyse both hard law and soft law instruments.The contributions of this work are: first, a review of key regulations applicable to AI in investment management (and oftentimes by extension to banking as well) from multiple jurisdictions; second, a framework and an analysis of key regulatory themes for AI.

The Government as Institutional Entrepreneur in Corporate Governance Reform

Governments around the world have become prolific issuers of soft law regulation in the form of corporate governance codes. However, the strategies that governments pursue to ensure the diffusion of the codes have remained unexplored in the literature. Drawing from institutional and sociopolitical perspectives, I hypothesize that governments pursue a combination of different intervention strategies to bring the corporate governance arrangements of firms in line with the issued code. These strategies focus on the mobilization of material resources, the dissemination of rationales and legitimating accounts for corporate governance change, interventions in social structure and the establishment of new social relations. I test my hypotheses in the context of the issuance of the national corporate governance code in Germany and find general support for my hypotheses.

Managing Dehumanization? A Technology and Ethics Account on the Future of Work and Consumption

Literature on dehumanization by algorithms has grown substantially in recent years, making it a highly important topic also for a managerial and business ethics audience as it touches upon several interlinked ethical issues in the business and society nexus. However, scattering across di-verse disciplines makes algorithmic dehumanization challenging to approach. It stretches from his-torical terminological roots from colonialism, industrialization and post-colonialism and today is deeply rooted in technology studies and ethics. We review the literature on algorithms and dehu-manization (n=180 articles) and map existing knowledge across several clusters that reveal its under-lying characteristics. Based on the review, we derive a business-ethics informed definition: Algo-rithmic dehumanization is defined as: organizational actors integrating algorithms and data analytics that result in the intentional or unintentional treatment of individuals and/or groups as less than fully human, thus infringe on human rights and particularly the three foundational principles of liberty, equality and dignity. We find that algorithmic dehumanization applies particularly to employees and the future of work, managerial decision making, consumer ethics, hard- and soft-law regulation and basic values such as privacy or human rights of consumers. Further, from the review, we develop a dehumanization avoidance model, which may help researchers and business practitioners to deal with the ethical challenges raised by algorithmic dehumanization. The three stages of the model show that several research topics remain unaddressed so far. Unraveling these topics, we suggest a set of open questions and how future research and practice can build on the model to reflect about organizational processes and improve corporate capabilities and managerial decision-making to avoid algorithmic dehumanization, thus contributing to outline the emerging concept of Corporate Digital Responsibility.

Stosowanie przepisów Rozporządzenia Parlamentu Europejskiego i Rady (UE) 2017/745 do sztucznej inteligencji

This paper presents the general shape of the regulation of Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council dedicated to software in healthcare and applied to AI software. It addresses issues of the general characteristics of MDR applied to software, including the definition of a medical device in Regulation 2017/745 with regard to artificial intelligence, the criteria for qualifying AI software as a medical device. It also addresses systemic problems as well as existing and proposed mandatory and soft law regulations.

Is There a Legal Path to Commercial Mining on the Moon?

The introduction describes how current lunar mining strengthens political incentives for commercial lunar activities. The present Chinese explorative excavation may bring greater clarity about the extent of commercial mining opportunities. It also raises issues regarding the lack of coordination between the lunar Artemis Program of the United States and the independent Chinese Lunar Exploration Program and raises uncertainties regarding the legal framework for lunar mining. Part I examines the fundamental law of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST) regarding lunar mining. It briefly reviews the 1979 Moon Agreement, the Liability Convention,4 lunar environmental protection, peaceful uses, and applicable law of treaty interpretation. Part II discusses efforts to implement the OST in a way that makes mining on the Moon possible. It examines the Building Blocks for the Development of an International Framework on Space Resource Activities (Building Blocks Proposal), which results from a three-year international interagency, an interdisciplinary working group at the Institute of Air and Space Law, University of Leiden. Within the scope of existing space law, the working group prepared an extensive international framework for states to authorize and supervise space resource activities, including lunar mining by private companies. It proposes reasonable safety zones around each mining project. The Building Blocks Proposal is now before the United Nations Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).  Part II also describes the Artemis Accords, initiated by National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA), an independent agency of the United States (U.S.). As of October 2021, twelve national space agencies have entered into bilateral accords with NASA to establish basic rules for lunar mining by commercial companies. The parties simply agree to respect each other’s lunar mining activities. Through the Artemis Accords, space agencies agree on operating rules for mining which include reasonable safety zones. Part II briefly discusses the Moon as a Commons as it affects lunar mining. It also examines possibilities for soft law regulation of lunar mining.  The conclusion stresses the need for multilateral regulation of lunar mining. It urges COPUOS to adopt guidelines on lunar mining. It also recommends that the United States should eliminate the Wolf Amendment, which is a barrier to the coordination of lunar mining between the two space powers currently most active in lunar exploration and use. 

Challenges to ensuring valid and useful waiting time monitoring \u2013 a qualitative study in Swedish specialist care

BackgroundAccess to health care is an essential health policy issue. In several countries, waiting time guarantees mandate set time limits for assessment and treatment. High-quality waiting time data are necessary to evaluate and improve waiting times. This study’s aim was to investigate health care providers and administrative management professionals’ perceptions of validity and usefulness of waiting time reporting in specialist care.MethodsSemi-structured interviews (n = 28) were conducted with administrative management and care professionals (line managers and care providers) in specialized clinics in the Stockholm Region, Sweden. Clinic-specific data from the waiting time registry was used in the care provider interviews to assess face validity. Clinics were purposefully sampled for maximum variation in complexity of care, volume of production, geographical location, private or public ownership, and local waiting times. Thematic analysis was used.ResultsThe waiting time registry was perceived to have low validity and usefulness. Perceived validity and usefulness were interconnected, with mechanisms that reinforced the connection. Structural and cognitive barriers to validity included technical and procedural errors, errors caused by role division, misinterpretation of guidelines, diverging interpretations of nonregulated cases and extensive willful manipulation of data.ConclusionsWe identify four misconceptions underpinning the current waiting time reporting system: passive dissemination of guidelines is sufficient as implemented, cognitive load of care providers to report waiting times is negligible, soft-law regulation and presentation of outcome data is sufficient to drive improvement, and self-reported data linked to incentives poses a low risk of data corruption. To counter low validity and usefulness, we propose the following for policy makers and administrative management when developing and implementing waiting time monitoring: communicate guidelines with instructions for operationalization, address barriers to implementation, ensure quality through monitoring of implementation and adherence to guidelines, develop IT ontology together with professionals, avoid parallel measurement infrastructures, ensure waiting times are presented to suit management needs, provide timely waiting time data, enable the study of single cases, minimize manual data entry, and perform spot-checks or external validity checks. Several of these strategies should be transferable to waiting time monitoring in other contexts.

Environmental Management of ISO 14001 System Enforcement in EU Countries

The European Union International Organization for Standardization management system for the environment (ISO 14001) is established by European Commission Regulation 1221/2009. This legislates a voluntary system where organizations can register in a community eco-management and audit scheme. In the literature, this standard is recognized as an instrument of international environmental protection law, introduced by soft law regulations. ISO 14001 has been implemented by many global and European organizations, and it strives to improve the quality of their environmental resources.
 It was considered that the ISO 14001 eco-management and audit scheme enforced protection of environment in EU countries by imposing the obligation to implement appropriate legal regulations in this area. This article aims is determine what legal solutions in chosen UE countries enable the effective implementation of ISO 14001 and what positive effects it has on the state of the environment in these countries.
 The results demonstrated that the number of certified organizations is increasing despite the many difficulties and costs of implementing and organizing required environmental protection areas. The implementation of ISO 14001 was described using the example of Poland and Italy compared to other EU countries. The uptake identifies improved environmental quality, and this is confirmed by indicators of decreasing gas emissions and increasing waste recycling which improve global air, soil and water quality. The higher implementation index of the ISO 14001 standard in Italy translates into higher environmental quality indicators in this country than in Poland.

Domestic Soft Law Regulation during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Hungary: A Novel Regulatory Approach to a Unique Global Challenge.

On 13 March 2020 the Hungarian Government announced the immediate closure of all schools throughout the country to prevent the spread of COVID-19 forcing several hundred thousand children to learn from home, and teachers to ensure their education. The Hungarian Educational Authority hurried to issue recommendations on the use of digital education tools. During the COVID-19 pandemic and the special legal order consequently introduced by the Hungarian Government, Hungary has seen the emergence of such non-binding measures adopted by public entities, complementing governmental action against the pandemic, with the aim of providing guidance to bodies exercising a public service function ("addressees"). These protective measures adopted under the special legal order are deemed to be successful and are largely followed by the addressees. Since soft law has hitherto been neglected by both Hungarian administrative governance and the legal literature, the recent burgeoning of non-binding measures deserves scholarly attention. In this article, we set out to map the specific context of the emergence of domestic soft law and the conditions for its adoption and reception, relying on our case study conducted in respect of the National Educational Authority's recommendations.

The effectiveness of corporate governance hybrid models in emerging markets: The case of the Issuer Recognition program

AbstractResearch question/issueWhat is the Issuer Recognition (IR) program, and what has been its impact as a new and replicable corporate governance hybrid form used in the Colombian Securities Exchange (CSE)?Research findings/insightsWe find that the IR program has significantly increased the information disclosure level of the adopting firms. This set of firms that were among the opaquest businesses in the region in 2010 ranked at the top in terms of disclosure in 2017. In addition, using as a benchmark the rate of implementation of the Colombian Country Code (soft law), we are able to show that the IR program serves as a strong signaling mechanism in the Colombian capital market.Theoretical/academic implicationsThe literature is not conclusive on the effectiveness of hard law and soft law regulations in the emerging markets. In this paper, we show that hybrid models, such as the innovative Colombian's IR, might serve as a solution for the effective implementation of good corporate governance practices at the country level.Practitioner/policy implicationsThe advantages and impacts of hybrid models are relatively unknown for policymakers, stock exchange promoters, and agency surveillance bodies, given the lack of empirical evidence of their application's effects. This paper seeks to increase the awareness of these models and call for their development and implementation, especially in emerging markets.

International Financial Standards in the Global Legal Order and in EU and EAEU Law

The global financial crisis strengthened the role of international financial standards in global commercial architecture and outlined the specialization of standard-settingbodies. These standards may be transposed in international agreements or be implemented in the legal order of states and state communities (such as the European Union (EU) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)). The development of standard-setting bodies and the evolving process of soft law rulemaking have led to the establishment of a specific mechanism, which may be called “the soft law mechanism.” The authors argue that this mechanism includes several components: normative (IFS), institutional (SSBs), controlling (peer reviews), and assuring (implementing incentives) components. However, despite the rising influence of international financial standards, a strict boundary between soft and hard law should be established. This article outlines these boundaries and justifies the use of the term soft law. In post-crisis global financial regulation, the role of soft law has increased not only in the financial market but also in the field of monetary regulation. Along with the traditional mechanisms of financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), states may use alternative bilateral and regional mechanisms. At the level of integration associations, soft law manifests in different ways. In the EU, despite the expansion of its field of action, soft law is purely an auxiliary element of the Union’s legal system. In EAEU law, the mechanism of soft-law regulation can beconsidered promising, given the peculiarities of the integration model.

New Instruments for Human Rights Protection in Globalization

The Ruggie principles have given new impulse to the process of developing and modernizing International Lawthrough the influence of human rights. However, this process has been developed as “soft law” measuresincluded in the corporate social responsibility activities of multinational companies, which academic opiniondeems has lessened the capacity of human rights for transforming international law into more effective and trulybinding instruments to avoid abuses against human dignity. This issue has prompted a debate concerning the roleof multinationals as subjects of international law, and the advisability of returning to more traditional andconservative approaches to governance of globalization and to effective protection of human rights from riskybusiness activities. However, thanks to Common Law traditions, this model may be transformed into binding rules,using the legal tools of private Law. This reveals the utility of such soft Law regulations in creating cultures ofrespect useful when rule of law is weak to rule relations between states, companies and people, that arise fromthe actions of private individuals rather than the activity of public law-making institutions.

Soft Law in Jus in Bello and Jus ad Bellum: What Lessons for Business and Human Rights?

This contribution, rather than focusing on the debates within the Business and Human Rights (BHR) domain itself, offers a comparison between soft law regulation in the BHR context, on the one hand, and in the jus in bello (JIB) and jus ad bellum (JAB) contexts, on the other. Specifically, this contribution looks at the recent experience in JIB and JAB wherein states and other actors have tried to address the indeterminacy of treaty law provisions through soft law proposals that advance a disputed interpretation of hard law, producing legal uncertainty and scholarly debate. I use as examples the 2009 Interpretive Guidance on Direct Participation in Hostilities and the 2012 Bethlehem Principles as a way to extract lessons for the codifying momentum underway in BHR.

Regional investment aid under regional operational plans for 2014-2020

Aim: The implementation of numerous EU projects in the period 2014-2020 is bound to require that they are compliant with EU law, domestic law, relevant guidelines, programming documents, and the content of an agreement on co-financing a project. It is in this context that the issue of public aid should be examined. On the grounds that some EU projects are subject to the regime mentioned, what becomes vital is to comply with all binding regulations in this respect. It is in this delineated form that the legal form of regional investment aid should be considered. The aim of this paper is to examine individual material elements of which the legal construction mentioned above is composed – while taking into account existing legislation. Research methods: The method that was adopted involves an analysis of the sources of law, case-law and literature. Conclusions: (1) The problem of regional investment aid should be considered in terms of the Treaty definition of public aid. At the same time, one has to take into account the legal regime set by the TFEU on state aid. As a rule, this aid is prohibited; still, the EU legislator allows for a number of exemptions. (2) This, in turn, means that it is necessary to develop, by issuing other normative acts (but also soft-law regulations), the Treaty provisions which allow for providing legally benefits covered by state aid. (3) The legal form at issue here should be considered in the context of the need to ensure that beneficiaries will be implementing projects in accordance with the rules of EU law, domestic law, relevant guidelines, programming documents and the content of an agreement on co-financing a project. Value of the paper: The set of issues examined is the subject addressed by case-law and literature. The value of the paper is that it systematizes all the elements discussed. The paper is addressed to the beneficiaries of EU projects, institutions participating in the system for managing and controlling EU resources and to administrative courts.

Aktuelnost principa UNIDROIT za međunarodne trgovinske ugovore - efekti bottom­up metoda harmonizacije prava

The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts have recently been published in their fourth edition, prompting the analysis of the origin of such a great success of this multifunctional instrument. Namely, this soft law regulation, although formally non-binding has significant de facto legal effects: it is a model law for many legal systems, it can be used as the law governing contracts, in processes before courts and arbitration tribunals, and as a means of interpretation and supplementation of uniform instruments. In this paper, the role of the so-called bottom-up approach was observed as an academic, non-sanctioned method of law harmonization that was applied in the making and developing of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts. This regulation is an obvious example of advantages that can be achieved by the creative normative process of the most esteemed experts not limited by the political imperative of the states they hail from. Their results achieve success because of the quality of their solutions and by doing so they promote alternative methods of harmonization of international commercial law.

THE ROLE OF SOFT LAW IN THE CONVERGENCE OF PENSION POLICIES OF EU MEMBER STATES

The failure of the European Union to harmonize the pension policies of its Member States and tighten the policy of budget deficit and public debt control have intensified the efforts to find a new way to regulate this area. Instead of harmonizing the Member States’ pension policies, the European Union has decided to take action aimed at their convergence. Given that the great heterogeneity of the Member States’ pension systems and policies made the implementation of the hard law infeasible, soft law has been implemented for regulating this area. The aim of this paper is to determine the effect of soft law regulation on the convergence of pension policies of the European Union Member States and assess its impact on the achievement of common defined objectives: sustainability and adequacy of pension systems, as well as modernization of pension systems.