Monthly Archives: March, 2024
Bogle and Lindsay, ‘How serious is the serious harm threshold?’
ABSTRACT Since the enactment of the Defamation Act 2013, a defamation claimant in England and Wales must demonstrate that publication of the allegedly defamatory statement ‘caused, or is likely to cause serious harm’. This requirement has, with minor modifications, been adopted in several Australian jurisdictions, and in Scotland. Its introduction is being considered in Ireland, […]
Bregant, Robbennolt and Winship, ‘Settlementality’
ABSTRACT Is settlement of litigation good or bad for the legal system? Should we have more or less of it? Should settlement have a private or public purpose? Legal scholars and lawyers have considered these questions for decades, but very little is known about the views of ordinary people. This Article reports results from a […]
Nynke Vellinga, ‘Rethinking compensation in light of the development of AI’
ABSTRACT The opacity, autonomy and complexity of AI systems can stand in the way of a fair and efficient allocation of risk and loss. The European Commission (EC) has recognized this and has addressed these matters in two proposals for two directives: the AI Liability Directive and a new Product Liability Directive. Both Directives address […]
Chaim Saiman, ‘Is Insurance “Just a Contract” or a “Just Contract”?’
ABSTRACT Courts never tire of saying an insurance policy is ‘just a contract’ and subject to ordinary rules of contract law. Contract here signals a plain language approach that strives for formal neutrality between the parties. Yet courts also frequently rely on a narrative that an insurance policy strives to be a ‘just contract’ with […]
David Miller, ‘Compensation for Historic Injustice: Does it Matter how the Victims Respond?’
ABSTRACT When states are required to compensate victim groups for the historic wrongs they have committed, how should the compensation due be calculated? It seems that alongside the counterfactual world in which the wrongdoing never occurred, we should also consider the counterfactual world in which the wrongdoing has occurred, but the victims have responded to […]
OD Michael, ‘Understanding the Theoretical and Legal Foundations of Medical Negligence Law in Nigeria’
ABSTRACT Medical negligence is the grave failure of a medical practitioner to exercise reasonable duty of care in the treatment of a patient thereby leading to damage on the part of the patient. In the Nigerian medical landscape, medical negligence is of grave concern, posing significant risks to patient safety and well-being, A major problem […]
Ruth Zafran, ‘Step-Parent as Fiduciary’
ABSTRACT Does a step-parent have any obligations toward the legal parent of the child? To date, the law has been silent on this point. This article is the first to argue that step-parents do have obligations toward the non-resident legal parent, and that these obligations originate from the step-parent’s role as fiduciary. More specifically, this […]
Xiyin Tang, ‘Intellectual Property as Labor Policy’
ABSTRACT Intellectual property has long been the law of creation, not creators. Both the dominant utilitarian framework, as well as alternate ones like Lockean and personhood justifications, consider the creator almost exclusively by reference to their creative output. But these innovation-first, output-maximization frameworks have increased concentration among IP firms and deepened inequality in the way […]
John Oberdiek, ‘Wrongs, Remedies, and the Persistence of Reasons: Re-Examining the Continuity Thesis’
ABSTRACT The ‘continuity thesis’ is one of Gardner’s signal contributions to tort theory. It holds that the reasons justifying one’s primary duties persist even after one breaches the duties they justify, reasserting themselves by grounding secondary duties of redress. The continuity thesis has been enormously influential but it also has attracted criticism. Perhaps the most […]
John Oberdiek, ‘The Trouble with Trespass’
ABSTRACT According to the tort of trespass, even justified entries onto another’s property constitute a trespass and are subject to liability. The justification, in other words, does not negate liability. This stands in contrast to the tort of battery: justified batteries, as with self-defense, are not subject to liability. There is reason, moreover, to think […]