Books in the SpringerBriefs in Law series

This book describes how statements made by non-state actors affect the scope of an individual's criminal responsibility and how they should be taken into account by domestic criminal courts. Sentencing is only possible on the basis and within the limits of the law. In the 21st century, this law increasingly means regulations formulated by various non-state actors: international organisations, human rights tribunals or statutory bodies. The content of these regulations does not only refer to states, but often has a direct impact on the legal situation of individuals. Two worlds collide here. Strict criminal law is influenced by fluid regulations issued by entities that have not been empowered to exercise the right to punish. The book presents an interpretative method to support the court's inference in the cases outlined above, based on the using the concept of two interrelated norms: the norm of the individual and the norm of the court.

This open access book examines regulating an environment that has no jurisdiction, is fully anonymous and infinitely vast? Welcome to the Metaverse, an online virtual reality that is expected to add billions to the global economy. The Metaverse offers a new type of virtual economy with practically endless business opportunities. The question is how to prevent these opportunities from being abused to commit money laundering and finance terrorism (MLFT).This book explores the current European Union legislation designed to prevent MLFT in connection with the Metaverse. It analyses the legislation in relation to the three traditional stages of MLFT: placement, layering and integration. Furthermore, some additional risks specific to the Metaverse are discussed, such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and the high level of anonymity. The book concludes that the current legislation is not suitable for facing the new challenges of the Metaverse. In turn, the book putsforward a novel approach to regulating and enforcing MLFT legislation: using a system of smart assets equipped with AI to prevent and detect MLFT. In addition, it makes recommendations on how to improve the legal framework with regard to the new challenges arising from the Metaverse. Particular attention is given to creating a legal framework that incorporates the use of smart assets and the Internet of Things, in order to provide a safe environment for potential users and society.With a solid background in financial law and technology, the author successfully creates a novel system of regulation and enforcement that is based on the use of automatic enforcement, whilst keeping sufficient legal safeguards in place for potential Metaverse users.This book will be of interest to anyone interested in the Metaverse. Whether you want to regulate it or open your own virtual business, it¿s a must-read!

The book starts with an analysis of what is new in the Digital Services Act. The aim is to see whether this new Regulation is appropriate both for not halting technological innovation and for addressing the risks that technological innovation poses to society and to the people who use digital services. The focal point is the risk of discrimination as people are often helpless in the face of the potential discriminations in the digital services sector. In particular, the book analyses how the Digital Services Act can make a concrete contribution to the protection against discrimination. To this end, it focuses on the responsibility of digital service providers and the fact that discrimination may also depend on the way in which algorithms and artificial intelligence systems are used. Therefore, a comparison is made between the Digital Services Act and the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act. The comparison discloses that the risk-based approach is the common thread followed by the EU in regulating the digital market. The book elaborates also on the practical implications of the risk-based approach. Highlighting advantages and limitations leading the author to conclude that the risk-based approach is the way forward only if the differences between risk and danger, the limits of law, and the limits of the tendency to humanise artificial intelligence systems are considered. With specific reference to the risk of discrimination, the need for a systemic and multi-level approach is highlighted, which reinforces the contribution that can be made not only by the Digital Services Act, but also by more general and cross-cutting legislation as those on data protection and unfair commercial practices.

The book offers a provocative review of thinking about privacy and identity in the years encompassing and disrupted by the two world wars of the first half of the twentieth century ¿ focusing (in particular) on the socio-technological transformations associated with modernism. It argues that, with many of the most interesting modern thinkers of the period dead or marginalised (or both) by 1948, their ideas about how rights such as privacy should develop to accommodate the exigencies of modern life failed to find much of a voice in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet they anticipated in surprising ways some of our ¿new¿ ways of thinking in more recent times. After a brief introduction, the chapters are framed in terms of case studies on the right to privacy, the right to data protection and the right to be forgotten, each finishing with a consideration of how these rights require further rethinking in the digital century.

This is an Open Access book.Amid the growing debate about models of judicial governance and their relationship to democratic quality, this book offers a systematic and empirical study of this relationship. The book thereby contributes to filling in this gap for the European continent. Taking an interdisciplinary politics and law perspective, and combining empirical and theoretical considerations, the book addresses the important link between democracy and judicial governance. In particular, it provides for three interconnected contributions. First, the book provides for a comprehensive classification of European countries into different models of judicial governance. Second, the book analyses empirically the relationship between the design of judicial governance and the quality of democracy. Third, building on those findings, the book presents policy reflections for the reform and improvement of mechanisms for judicial governance in European countries.The book seeks to refine our knowledge about the relationship between judicial governance and democracy, making an important academic and social contribution. In an era in which many democracies backslide and deconsolidate, it assesses to what extent existing mechanisms for judicial governance have contributed to the stability and quality of democratic systems in which they are implemented. Furthermore, the book puts forward reflections to improve the role of organs for judicial governance in fostering the quality of democracy. Since the book introduces in an accessible form key concepts of Judicial Governance, it will be of interest for the general public as well as academics and students in the fields of Law and Political Science. The book also addresses policy makers, as based on our empirical knowledge about the interaction judicial governance and democracy it puts forward ideas for a design of judicial governance that is more capable of protecting democratic systems of government.

The European Union is one of the most outward-oriented economies in the world, and free trade is one of its founding principles. As such, instruments intended to ensure that international trade is conducted on a level playing field have been part of the EU¿s policy toolbox since the beginning of European integration. Adapting to the current changes in international trade, these instruments have since undergone major reforms. This work provides an overview of the EU¿s legal framework on the use of its trade defence instruments, in particular measures under the Trade Barriers Regulation, the Basic Anti-Dumping Regulation and the Basic-Anti Subsidy Regulation. The book shares valuable insights into how EU institutions currently apply these instruments and places their application in the broader political context in which international trade takes place, which has been shaped e.g. by developments related to the United Kingdom¿s withdrawal from the EU and the ongoing blockade of the WTO Appellate Body.

It surveys a number of domains, including criminal law, tort law, contract law, family law, and medical law (particularly the realm of moral enhancement technologies) asking for each: (a) Does the existing law seek to promote personal morality?

This book offers a comparative review of the ultra vires doctrine in corporate law.

The book goes on to examine the concept of a higher doctorate in law as a possible means of strengthening the concept of a law doctorate in legal academia.This book was written against the backdrop of the recently adopted Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning higher education.

This book highlights how conversion via communication is one of the most important issues in legal thinking. But a jurist will not solely master specific social behaviors or become the manager of large-scale political fields of law as a legal scientist.

This book analyses the ability of existing international law to address common vulnerabilities in connection with the recent emergence of small satellites, and how finding consensus in this context can pave the way to the sustainable development of space.

This book strikes a balance between international sporting governing bodies' interests and values enshrined in rules regarding sporting nationality on one hand, and athletes' rights under EU law on the other.

This book tackles the problem of the insufficient and expensive charging infrastructure in Germany. The legal solutions proposed here could ultimately serve to offer e-motorists around the country highly efficient and competitively priced charging options.

This book analyzes in detail differing interpretations of the rule of law in Western legal systems and in the People's Republic of China.