Category Archives: Fundamental or Human Rights
Henrik Andersen, ‘International climate change law and liability of companies’
ABSTRACT This article addresses civil liability of companies in international climate change law. Even though international law has states as subjects, there are various elements of hard and soft international climate change law, in particular due diligent requirements, that are relevant in liability assessments of companies’ climate conduct. € (Westlaw) Henrik Andersen, ‘International climate change […]
Zuzanna Nowicka, ‘SLAPP vs Mutual Trust: Protecting the Public Debate Through Public Policy Considerations’
ABSTRACT This Article argues that to protect public debate, which is vital for democratic societies, it is crucial for courts in EU Member States to apply the freedom of expression standards established by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) when adjudicating cases, particularly in the context of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). The […]
Dagan and Gergen, ‘Harnessing the Unruly Horse: Public Policy in Contract Law’
ABSTRACT It is blackletter law that agreements or terms which violate public policy are unenforceable. But the precise role of the public policy in contract law remains elusive, which may explain the chaotic state of this veteran doctrine. Without a principled framework to guide judges in deciding when the law should refuse to lend its […]
Emile Zitske, ‘The foundations of transformative private law in South Africa’
ABSTRACT This article problematises a shallow understanding of ‘transformative private law’ as being a simple merger of constitutional rights and private law. Instead, feeding into international discourse on transformative private law, it is argued that a South African iteration of the concept ought to be rooted in ‘transformative constitutionalism’. Exploring the jurisprudential foundations of transformative […]
Meghan Finn, ‘Substantive Equality in the Private Sphere: Developments in South African Law on Testamentary Discrimination’
ABSTRACT The right to equality in South African law gives rise to duties borne by both the state and private actors. In the law of succession, this constrains private testators’ powers to discriminate. Doctrinal developments bear this out: in King v De Jager and Wilkinson v Crawford, a majority of the Constitutional Court extended the […]
‘The Case for Retaining Civil Liability in the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: A Law and Economics Perspective’
The European Commission recently introduced the Omnibus Package on 26 February 2025. While presented as a measure to streamline corporate sustainability reporting and reduce regulatory burdens, it risks diluting transparency and weakening the EU’s ambitious sustainability goals. Regarding the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the most alarming watering down of the legislation in the […]
Daniel Engler and others, ‘Do Individuals Prefer Stricter Supply Chain Laws? Empirical Evidence from Germany’
ABSTRACT Inspired by the controversial debate in the EU about legal initiatives to protect human rights and the environment along supply chains (eg, the CSDDD), this paper examines individual preferences for different designs of supply chain laws that are stricter than the current national legislation. Our econometric analysis is based on data from a representative […]
Kelly Cahill Timmons, ‘Dominion Voting Systems v Fox News Network: Defamation Actions as a Tool for the Rule of Law in Turbulent Times’
ABSTRACT When we think about areas of law that are most essential to advancing the Rule of Law in turbulent times, constitutional law and its limits on the power of government might be the first thing that comes to mind. Injury or tort law is probably not at the top of the list. Yet the […]
Bonadio and Solanki, ‘Intellectual Property and the Freedom to Conduct a Business under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights’
ABSTRACT This chapter explores the constitutional tension under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights between Article 17(2)’s protection of IP and Article 16’s guarantee of the freedom to conduct a business. It shows how the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) employs proportionality and the ‘fair balance’ test to reconcile these rights, with the degree […]
Just published: Eliza Varney, Disability, Human Rights, and Contract Law
An initial glance at the intricate web of the English legal system may perceive human rights and private law as paths leading to different realms. In this vision, contract law, shaped by economic concerns, is confined to a role of enforcing agreements. Yet, given ageing population trends and the increase in the number of people […]