On the Relative Importance of the AI Act Right to Explanation
Note: This is a cross-post of a blog originally published on the The Digital Constitutionalist Excerpt: The initial Commission proposal for the AI Act focused on establishing requirements and safeguards applicable to the various operators of AI systems but lacked individual rights and remedies for persons on the receiving end of such systems. In…
Read moreThe future of data driven investigation in light of the Sky ECC operation
In our article, ‘The future of data driven investigations in light of the Sky ECC operation’, we examine whether or not, and on what terms, there is a future for data driven criminal investigations. To answer the research question, we identified the main characteristics and legal criteria for data driven investigations. We use the Sky…
Read moreControversy Sparks in Israel over Fear of Rule of Law and Human Rights Backsliding
Recently, Israeli constitutional law outlined the vulnerability of the Israeli legal system to systematic constitutional threats by the religious right-wing government led by re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This exposes Israel’s legal system to rule of law and human rights backsliding – what is it all about, and why is it happening now? In this blog,…
Read moreRights of Nature: Just Another Chocolate Laxative?
Scholars, lawyers and activists around the world have recently embraced the idea of granting legal personality and subjective rights to rivers, landscapes and other natural entities. In view of the climate crisis and other environmental problems, such an expansion of legal personhood and rights is widely understood as a revolution that could save the world….
Read moreOne Step Forward, Two Steps Back? Legislative Reform on the Path to Justice for Victims of Sexual Violence in Indonesia
Like other countries, Indonesia grapples with violence against women resulting from patriarchal institutions and compounded by gaps in the justice system. The UN Committee monitoring Indonesia’s implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) highlighted this issue as one of the main points of concern in their 2021…
Read moreLegal Aspects of the EncroChat-Operation
In the EncroChat operation, French law enforcement authorities collected over 120 million messages from 60.000 EncroChat users. They cooperated with Dutch law enforcement authorities and Europol in a Joint Investigation Team (JIT). In the Netherlands, EncroChat data has already been used in over 200 criminal cases. In this blog, we explain how the right to…
Read moreThe history of the Justice of the Peace discussed at the University of Lisbon
Between 22 and 24 June 2020, the 6th Biennial Conference of the European Society of Comparative Legal History took place at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. The conference focused on the history of methods of legal professionals across Europe and the world. As judges, lawyers and other legal professions have developed differently from country to…
Read moreShould we increase greenspace to improve living environments in Dutch prisons?
There is growing consensus among academics and policy makers that the living environments in Dutch prisons need to be improved. This belief is fuelled by the idea that better living environments will enhance the well-being of both prisoners and prison staff. Also, it will strengthen the effectiveness of the criminal sentencing system, as prisoners who…
Read moreThe Big Bang in EU Law, Promises and Empirical Reality
Who knows the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) Van Gend & Loos judgment? Silly question, of course. The judgment has become famous for introducing the direct effect of EU law, allowing individuals to rely directly on EU law provisions against Member States and, sometimes, even against other individuals. But who can tell what the direct…
Read moreChile’s Constituent Process: The End of Pinochet’s Neoliberal Legality?
On 25 October 2020, Chile made a crucial step towards the introduction of a new, democratically elaborated Constitution which, if all goes well, will replace the 40 year old charter that General Pinochet’s authoritarian regime imposed on the country. On that day in October, almost 80 per cent of the voters approved in a referendum…
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