Monthly Archives: December, 2025
Aditi Bagchi, ‘From Private to Public Right: Resizing Correlativity and Systematicity’
ABSTRACT This essay on Ernest Weinrib’s Reciprocal Freedom argues that his conceptions of correlativity and systematicity are at odds. Correlativity as he conceives it is inexplicably all-encompassing; it does not track the complexity of interpersonal fairness in either morality or law. Correlativity can be understood as a formal constraint or as a requirement of mutual […]
Arnoud Pijls, ‘Prospectus Liability under Dutch Law’
ABSTRACT This chapter examines the current framework of prospectus liability under Dutch law, which is primarily rooted in general tort rules on unfair commercial practices and misleading advertising rather than in securities legislation. It explains the dual-track system that distinguishes between retail and non‑retail investors and analyses the central role of the World Online judgement […]
Enrico Baffi, ‘Public Standard Contract as Benchmark and Informed Opt-Out’
ABSTRACT This article proposes a market design mechanism for standard contracts in relationhips between firms and consumers, based on the preparation, by a public authority, of a sectoral standard contract intended to serve as a benchmark. The standard is constructed in such a way as to maximize the expected surplus for the majority of consumers, […]
Singh and Palem, ‘When Big Brands “Bulldoze” Small Marks: Analysis of US Trademark Law’
ABSTRACT This paper tests a practical hypothesis: in contemporary trademark practice, well-resourced firms sometimes deploy enforcement not only to mitigate consumer confusion, but also to raise rivals’ costs and deter adjacent-market entry, especially when the target is smaller and resource-constrained. US trademark law facilitates this strategy because the core infringement inquiry, likelihood of confusion under […]
John Campbell, ‘Misuse of private information and the protection of reputation after ZXC v Bloomberg – Is privacy of information still a requirement?’
ABSTRACT While it is well established that Article 8 protects reputation, a defamation action remains the appropriate remedy unless the claimant has, in addition, a reasonable expectation of privacy. The Supreme Court in ZXC v Bloomberg found that information could be characterised as private if it harms reputation providing that such harm is sufficiently serious […]
Doyle, Hlushchenko, McCorristine and Healy, ‘Should we patent the “Woolly Mammoth”? Ecological and animal welfare objections’
INTRODUCTION Woolly mammoths are members of the extinct genus, Mammuthus, which appeared in sub-Saharan Africa during the middle Pliocene epoch (approximately 3-4 million years ago) and included about 20 species. The woolly mammoth is the youngest of the Mammuthus species, evolving in Eurasia between 500 000 and 120 000 years ago, and later migrating to the Americas […]
Dana Ondrejová, ‘Definition of a particularly vulnerable consumer under Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices’
ABSTRACT Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices establishes the normative benchmark of the ‘average consumer’ as the primary standard for assessing the legality of commercial conduct. However, Article 5(3) of the Directive introduces an important corrective mechanism by recognizing the category of the ‘particularly vulnerable consumer’, whose economic behavior may be disproportionately influenced by age, […]
David Campbell, ‘Is There Such A Thing As Private Law?’
ABSTRACT In Justice in Private Law, Professor Jaffey seeks to give a comprehensive and unified ‘interpretively’ adequate account of the ‘traditional private law’, the main areas of which are property, contract, and tort. Jaffey argues that both ‘corrective justice’ and ‘distributive justice’ theories of private law are seriously inadequate, and puts forward a ‘reconciliation’ of […]
Charlie Ward, ‘Outcome Responsibility and Autonomy: Rationalising the Change of Position Defence in Mistaken Payment Claims’
ABSTRACT Three decades on from its decisive advent in England and Australia, the change of position defence has become part of the fabric of the law of restitution. Yet its rationale — long neglected but increasingly scrutinised — remains a matter of debate. This article seeks to advance the debate by analysing possible rationales for […]
Margaret Thornton, ‘Privatising Sexual Harassment’
ABSTRACT Following the emergence of #MeToo, sexual harassment at work attracted sustained attention all over the world. In Australia, this resulted in multiple reports which confirmed high rates of sexual harassment and led to protracted agitation for law reform. Although the ensuing recommendations have been widely praised, this article argues that the continuing privatisation of […]