Category Archives: Fundamental or Human Rights
Muriel Fabre-Magnan, ‘Constitutional Values and Freedom of Contract’
ABSTRACT The balancing of freedom of contract against fundamental values seems to be a classic subject. It is commonly taught in contract law that fundamental principles may constitute a limit on freedom of contract, and justify infringement of the freedom of choice of the contracting party or, above all, of the freedom to determine the […]
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 […]
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 […]
Peter Cashman, ‘Civil Liability in Australia for international human rights violations’
INTRODUCTION This research paper examines a number of issues concerning the civil liability of corporations in Australia and in other jurisdictions for international conduct which violates human rights. The issue of corporate accountability and corporate social responsibility is of increasing concern internationally. In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted the United Nations Guiding […]
Hassan Ahmad, ‘Against Settlement in Transnational Business and Human Rights Litigation’
ABSTRACT In ‘Against Settlement’, Owen Fiss argued that settlement may not always be the optimal result of civil suits, particularly those that involve novel or ambiguous areas of law or ostensible power imbalances. That work spurred a range of scholarship around the merits and demerits of settlement. And although the settlement versus litigation debate is […]
Sylvia Lu, ‘Regulating Algorithmic Harms’
ABSTRACT In recent years, the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) innovations has led to a rise in algorithmic harms – harms emerging from AI operations that pose significant threats to civil rights and democratic values in today’s technological landscape. A facial recognition system for improving criminal detection wrongly collected sensitive personal data and flagged […]
‘Australia: With more lawsuits potentially looming, should politicians be allowed to sue for defamation’
Western Australia Senator Linda Reynolds is already embroiled in a bruising defamation fight against her former staffer Brittany Higgins. Now, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is reportedly considering suing independent MP Zali Steggall after she told him to ‘stop being racist’. It has become impossible to miss the fact that our political class – including some […]
Myriam Hunter-Henin, ‘Religious Expression and Exemptions in the Private Sector Workplace: Spotting Bias’
ABSTRACT Courts tasked with ruling on religious freedom claims in the private sector workplace have been faced with the following challenge: too weak a protection of religious freedom and it will become meaningless; too strong, and individual freedom will be stifled. Recently, courts on each side of the Atlantic have, respectively, leant towards each of […]
Clare Ryan, ‘The Public/Private Home’
ABSTRACT Families today are more private and more public than traditional family law doctrine ever envisioned. This Article reveals how many elements of family life, which the law often assumes will occur in public – work, school, social life – have moved into the private sphere of the home. While at the same time, private […]
Francesca Palmiotto, ‘The AI Act Roller Coaster: How Fundamental Rights Protection Evolved in the EU Legislative Process’
ABSTRACT Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents one of the biggest challenges to fundamental rights protection, a concern the European Union (EU) is actively addressing through regulatory initiatives like the AI Act and the AI Liability Directive. Within EU institutions, however, visions on the nature of such a challenge and the appropriate framework it should be dealt […]