Monthly Archives: April, 2026
David Salmons, ‘Reconciling the case law under the certainty of subject matter requirement in the law of trusts’
ABSTRACT It is contended in this article that the decision in Hunter v Moss, where a trust was found over unsegregated shares, should be understood as an equitable assignment for consideration. This follows from the original rationale of the subject matter requirement, whereby no trust would arise if the holder was free to use any […]
Maria Bhatti, ‘Islamic finance, law, and women’s financial inclusion in Australia’
ABSTRACT Muslim women in Australia experience layered forms of financial exclusion shaped by the intersection of gender, religion, migration, race, and socio-economic position. These intersecting dynamics are reinforced by Australia’s secular, market-oriented financial system, which offers limited regulatory recognition of Islamic financial principles. This article undertakes a doctrinal and regulatory analysis of Islamic finance in […]
‘“Consent” must be assessed objectively, says Court of Appeal’
The Court of Appeal has handed down an important judgment (RTM v Bonne Terre Ltd & Another [2026] EWCA Civ 488) on the meaning of ‘consent’ in the context of data protection and ePrivacy law, and overturned what had been a problematic prior judgment of the High Court, which had left many businesses, especially those […]
J Jonas Anderson, ‘Demystifying Third-Party Litigation Funding’
ABSTRACT Third-party litigation funding (‘TPLF’) is having a moment. The TPLF industry is exploding, with upwards of seventeen billion dollars flowing into the industry; the Supreme Court recently asked litigants how many of the Court’s cases are third-party funded; and Congress is considering numerous bills on TPLF that would require changes to the practice of […]
‘The Perils of Overprotecting Genetically Modified Plants’
Amid escalating threats to global food security and ecological stability, the intellectual property (‘IP’) regime governing genetically modified crops risks undermining the agricultural resilience it was designed to advance. Congress should consider adjusting the balance between providing innovation incentives through IP rights and facilitating greater access to plant diversity. This can be achieved through more […]
Jakob Hohnerlein, ‘Courts and legislation in a “constitutionalised” private law: Insights from recent German practice for strengthening the democratic side of constitutionalism’
ABSTRACT In the perpetual debate about the legitimate role of courts in a democratic state, constitutional rights have become increasingly relevant. In Germany, the doctrine of ‘horizontal effect’ of those rights has reinforced judicial creativity. The civil courts are called to interpret vague clauses of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) in a way that fully implements […]
Anfield Tam, ‘The Tort of Malicious Falsehood and Mental Distress Damages’
ABSTRACT It has been 124 years since the apex court in the UK last considered the tort of malicious falsehood. This common law tort has since been modified by statute such that the claimant no longer has to establish pecuniary loss to make out the claim. In George v Cannell, the UK Supreme Court returned […]
Godefroy de Boiscuille, ‘New product liability in the Age of AI: Modernisation under a Conservative Veil’
ABSTRACT This article examines the reform of the European Product Liability Directive in the age of AI. The reform succeeds in bringing AI within the reach of product liability law. However, the proposed regime remains only partially adapted to the evidentiary and economic realities of the digital age. The modernisation effort is significant but ultimately […]
Fontanela and Marocco, ‘Harmonising Trade Secret Protection in AI: Innovation, Opacity and Digital Vulnerability’
ABSTRACT This study examines how the international harmonisation of intellectual property rules, particularly trade secret protection, reshapes the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) in ways that both enable and threaten justice. We argue that convergent standards on undisclosed information are essential for legal certainty in knowledge-intensive AI investments. Such standards are anchored in TRIPS, reinforced […]
Maria Andrianova, ‘Evolution of the Category of Fiduciarity’
ABSTRACT The article examines the evolution of the category of fiduciarity in inheritance relations from Roman private law to modern legal systems. Based on the analysis of Roman constructions of fiducia and fideicommissum, the essential core of fiduciarity is revealed – the duty of a person entrusted with power over another’s property to act exclusively […]