Monthly Archives: September, 2024
Hui Jing, ‘The illegality defence in Singapore Trust Law: a refined Ochroid test’
ABSTRACT In the Singapore High Court decision of Lau Sheng Jan Alistair v Lau Cheok Joo Richard and Sng Gek Hong Cynthia, Goh Yihan JC, who delivered the judgment, addressed three issues: the rule in Saunders v Vautier, the sham trust, and the illegality defence. Goh Yihan JC’s examination of the rule in Saunders v […]
Robert Emerson, ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Franchising Has a Joint Employment and Independent Contracting Problem’
ABSTRACT Legal turmoil originating from the ambiguity of independent contractor and joint employment law has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the growth of e-commerce and the gig economy. Chaos and uncertainty have hindered business advancement, especially for franchises. Still, there are exemplary international approaches, proposed US and state laws, uniform tests or guarantees, […]
‘In Which Elon Musk Once Again Becomes a Classroom Hypothetical’
This time, it’s Brazil. If you’re not following the saga, the story is apparently that ex-Twitter, now controlled by Elon Musk (not the CEO, though; you can’t even really say he’s the owner without qualifying about the interests of other investors and – don’t forget – the debtholders), ignored the order of Brazilian Supreme Court […]
James An, ‘Dimensions of Private Benefits of Control’
ABSTRACT The term ‘private benefits of control’ refers to the privileges and advantages that accrue to the controlling shareholders of corporations at the exclusion of minority shareholders. Analyzing these private benefits helps scholars understand how control affects the parties to the corporate contract and how to better mitigate the negative consequences that result when ownership […]
Alexander Kirk, ‘Consumer Autonomy and the Charter of Fundamental Rights’
How is the autonomy of consumers protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights? In this essay, I aim at showing two things: Firstly, the principle of autonomy is enshrined in European economic rules (eg on competition) as a general concept that applies to all market actors – including consumers. Secondly, consumer autonomy is protected on […]
‘But-for What? When Anti-Discrimination Law Tried to Borrow from Tort Law and Missed Something’, Robin Dembroff and Issa Kohler-Hausmann, University of Toronto and online, 20 September 2024
The talk will be a hybrid talk, taking place in person at the University of Toronto Centre for Ethics (15 Devonshire Place), with a synchronous broadcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/live/FbP8fecnE-E. Courts and commentators often define discrimination in causal terms. Moreover, they often claim that the causal definition of discrimination tracks the role that causality plays establishing […]
Maciej Bujalski, ‘On Producers’ Obligation to Repair Defective Goods: Direct Producers’ Liability vs Self-Standing Obligation under R2R Directive’
INTRODUCTION The European Union is actively pursuing sustainable consumption, one aspect of which is the circular economy. This aims to prolong the lifespan of the goods available on the market. Therefore, the regulation of the right to repair became of interest to the European Commission. The assumption is that environmental costs resulting from repair are […]
Matteo Godi, ‘Section 1983: A Strict Liability Statutory Tort’
ABSTRACT Scholars have traditionally framed Section 1983 as a ‘constitutional tort’, and they have recently devoted much attention to critiquing one side effect of that constitutional rhetoric: the doctrine of qualified immunity. That approach misses a more fundamental issue: the transformation of Section 1983 into a fault-based tort. Through textual and historical analysis, as well […]
Ozcan, Pickernell and Bacon, ‘Identifying Trade Secrets: Strategic Process and Challenges in the UK’
ABSTRACT Trade secrets constitute an important element of intellectual property portfolio. They are instrumental in securing competitive advantage by preserving critical innovations and other confidential data vital for success. The act of identifying these trade secrets, however, possess numerous challenges. There are no established processes on how to conduct trade secret identification on an organizational […]
Katharine Jackson, ‘Public and Private Fiduciaries: Agents, Trustees, and the Politics of Acting for Others’
ABSTRACT Over the past decade, political and legal theorists began conscripting private fiduciary law to help delimit and define the duties of public officials. While enlisting additional legal prophylactics against arbitrary government may have appeared especially appealing during a Trump administration characterized by corruption and racism, this Article argues that straightforwardly applying fiduciary doctrine to […]