Monthly Archives: September, 2024
‘Reciprocity and the Hague Judgments Convention’
In a prior post, I reported on recent developments that offer a basis for (cautious) optimism that the United States may soon take the necessary steps to ratify the Hague Judgments Convention (HJC). In this post, I explore how the issue of reciprocity might affect the ratification process … (more) [John F Coyle, Transnational Litgation […]
‘Long-overdue Australian privacy law reform is here – and it’s still not fit for the digital era’
Almost four years since the Privacy Act review commenced, the Australian government has introduced a reform bill that fails to make most of the fundamental changes needed to modernise our privacy laws. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in May that the government would introduce legislation to reform a privacy regime that’s ‘woefully outdated and unfit for […]
‘Property (Digital Assets etc) bill introduced into Parliament’
The Government has today introduced the Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill into Parliament. The Bill enacts the recommendations of the Law Commission of England and Wales. Its effect is to confirm the existence of a third category of personal property, into which crypto-tokens and other assets could fall. The Bill is available here and has […]
William Fernando Martínez Luna and others, ‘Linking a Digital Asset to an NFT – Technical and Legal Analysis’
ABSTRACT NFTs (non-fungible tokens) enable the commercialization of goods and services through blockchain technology, enhancing the security, transparency, and speed of transactions. The primary challenge NFTs face is their connection to the underlying asset, ensuring that transferring the token also means transferring the linked asset. This interdisciplinary article examines the technical and legal challenges of […]
‘“He’s Dead, Jim” or Not?’
Alyssa A DiRusso, ‘Life and Death Matters in Conflict of Laws’, 97 Tulane Law Review 703 (2023). How does one define death, and to what extent can we confidently say someone is dead enough? The answer to this question varies among our jurisdictions. Before initiating the administration of a deceased person’s estate, the primary question […]
Lee McConnell, ‘When Is it Right to Speak of Animal Rights?’
ABSTRACT This article examines the ways in which the language of legal rights is invoked by those seeking to improve the treatment of animals. Drawing from a range of analytical, realist, and critical legal and social theorists, it argues that certain argumentative techniques commonly employed to justify the extension of legal rights to animals may […]
Fell and Field, ‘The Actual Loss Illusion’
ABSTRACT On the orthodox account of the private law compensatory principle, the claimant is compensated for the loss that they actually suffered because of the defendant’s wrong. Although the principle has various exceptions, it is widely accepted in both case law and academic commentary. We argue that it is nevertheless flawed, both doctrinally and theoretically. […]
Zhuhao Wang, ‘Asynchronous Trials: A New Approach To High-Volume Civil Adjudication’
ABSTRACT For thousands of years, trials were held in brick-and-mortar courthouses. Then COVID-19 ravaged the world, and many businesses and institutions, including judicial courts, went online. For the first time many people realized, accepted, and benefited from online trials held via videoconference software like Zoom. But Zoom fatigue is real. As the epidemic subsides, we […]
Bar-Gill and Hayashi, ‘Present Bias and Debt-Financed Durable Goods’
ABSTRACT It has become common to view credit as problematic for present-biased consumers, who are tempted to incur too much debt because of its deferred costs. But while this view is generally valid when debt is used to finance current consumption, the picture becomes much more nuanced when credit is used to fund the purchase […]
Andrew Woodhouse, ‘Commodity-form theory of law, the climate crisis, and the European Union’
ABSTRACT This essay reflects on how the Marxist commodity-form theory of law can inform approaches to EU climate law. The commodity-form theory understands law as a central social relation in the capitalist mode of production. The essay combines this theory with a Marxist analysis of the relationship between capitalism and nature, arguing that the inherent […]