The COVID-19 pandemic has forced courts around the world to embrace technology and other innovative measures in order to continue functioning. This article explores how Australian courts have approached this challenge. We show how adaptations in response to the pandemic have sometimes been in tension with principles of open justice, procedural fairness and access to justice, and consider how courts have attempted to resolve that tension. |
Search result: 209 articles
Article |
The Use of Technology (and Other Measures) to Increase Court CapacityA View from Australia |
Journal | International Journal of Online Dispute Resolution, Issue 2 2021 |
Keywords | court capacity, COVID-19, Australia, online dispute resolution, open justice, procedural fairness, access to justice, online courts, justice technology, judicial function |
Authors | Felicity Bell, Michael Legg, Joe McIntyre e.a. |
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Article |
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Journal | Netherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy, Issue 2 2021 |
Keywords | Vulnerability, Contingency, Freedom and Anxiety, Solidarity, Legal concept of inclusion |
Authors | Benno Zabel |
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The COVID-19 crisis has produced or amplified disruptive processes in societies. This article wants to argue for the fact that we understand the meaning of the COVID-19 crisis only if we relate it to the fundamental vulnerability of modern life and the awareness of vulnerability of whole societies. Vulnerability in modernity are expressions of a reality of freedom that is to some extent considered contingent and therefore unsecured. It is true that law is understood today as the protective power of freedom. The thesis of the article, however, boils down to the fact that the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in a new way of thinking about the protection of freedom. This also means that the principle of solidarity must be assigned a new social role. Individual and societal vulnerability refer thereafter to an interconnectedness, dependency, and a future perspective of freedom margins that, in addition to the moral one, can also indicate a need for legal protection. In this respect, law has not only a function of delimitation, but also one of inclusion. |
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Journal | East European Yearbook on Human Rights, Issue 1 2021 |
Keywords | Covid-19, vaccine passport |
Authors | Mart Susi and Tiina Pajuste |
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This comparative study looks into the proposed “vaccine passport” initiative from various human rights aspects. It was undertaken by the Global Digital Human Rights Network, an action started under the EU’s Cooperation in Science and Technology programme. The network currently unites more than 80 scholars and practitioners from 40 countries. The findings are based on responses to questions put to the network members by the authors of this study in February 2021. |
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Journal | East European Yearbook on Human Rights, Issue 1 2021 |
Authors | Matthias C. Kettemann and Martin Fertmann |
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This study explores the spread of disinformation relating to the Covid-19 pandemic on the internet, dubbed by some as the pandemic’s accompanying “infodemic”, and the societal reactions to this development across different countries and platforms. The study’s focus is on the role of states and platforms in combatting online disinformation. |
Article |
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Journal | East European Yearbook on Human Rights, Issue 1 2021 |
Authors | Martin Fertmann and Matthias C. Kettemann |
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Terms-of-service based actions against political and state actors as both key subjects and objects of political opinion formation have become a focal point of the ongoing debates over who should set and enforce the rules for speech on online platforms. |
Article |
Sustainability in Global Supply Chains Under the CISG |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 3 2021 |
Keywords | CISG, sustainability, supply chains, UN Global Compact, Codes of Conduct, conformity of the goods |
Authors | Ingeborg Schwenzer and Edgardo Muñoz |
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In this article, the authors assert that the United Nations Convention for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) can contribute to tackling gaps in statutory legislation and defective business conduct that have been associated with unsustainable trade in Global Supply Chains (GSCs). The authors provide evidence that the CISG contains rules enabling a general legal framework for establishing uniform sustainable standards for goods concerning suppliers, sellers and buyers located in different countries. For instance, the CISG provisions on contract formation ease the incorporation of joint codes of conduct for sustainable trade in GSCs. In addition, the contracting parties’ circumstances and current trade usages are now more relevant to determine what constitutes conformity of the goods under the contract and the default warranties in Article 35 CISG. On the level of remedies, the authors show that best-efforts provisions, possibly included in a code of conduct or inferred from standards applicable to the goods, may redefine the notion of impediment in Article 79 CISG, which could lead to exoneration of liability for the seller. They also demonstrate why fundamental breach and the calculation of damages are at the centre of the discussion regarding the remedies for breach of an obligation to deliver sustainable goods. |
Public Health Emergency: National, European and International Law Responses |
Constitutional Rights in the Time of PandemicThe Experience of Hungary |
Journal | Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, Issue 1 2021 |
Keywords | state of emergency, emergency powers, restriction of fundamental rights, Fundamental Law, Constitutional Court of Hungary |
Authors | Lóránt Csink |
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Special circumstances may require special measures. This article is to highlight the importance of constitutional rights, also in the time of a pandemic. Its hypothesis is that constitutional rights are not luxuries one can only afford in peacetime, they are much rather at the core of civilization and democracy. History shows that a world without rights may easily turn into a nightmare. The article first focuses on the Hungarian constitutional basis of the state of emergency (Section 2). Next, it analyses the text of the constitution with respect to the limitation of fundamental rights and elaborates on the various interpretations through the lens of the case-law of the Constitutional Court (Sections 3-4). Finally, the article concludes that despite the rigid wording of the Hungarian Fundamental Law, constitutional rights can be restricted only if the restriction meets the necessity-proportionality test (Section 5) |
Public Health Emergency: National, European and International Law Responses |
Defining the Common European Way of LifeExploring the Concept of Europeanness |
Journal | Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, Issue 1 2021 |
Keywords | European identity, Common European Way of Life, coronavirus, European citizenship, Hungary, enlargement policy, Europeanness |
Authors | Lilla Nóra Kiss and Orsolya Johanna Sziebig |
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The article focuses on the interpretation of the European Way of Life and the concept of Europeanness. Ursula von der Leyen determined the Promotion of the European Way of Life as a priority of the 2019-2024 Commission. The purpose behind this was to strengthen European democracy and place the citizens into the center of decision-making. The article examines the role of European identity, European citizenship and those historical-traditional conditions that make our way of life ‘common’. The Common European Way of Life may be defined as a value system based on the established legal basis of EU citizenship that can be grasped in the pursuit of common principles and the exercise of rights guaranteed to all EU citizens, limited only under exceptional circumstances and ensuring socio-economic convergence. The article covers general conceptual issues but also focuses on the extraordinary impact of the COVID-19. Lastly, the relevant aspects of enlargement policy are also explored. |
Public Health Emergency: National, European and International Law Responses |
On the Constitutionality of the Punishment of Scaremongering in the Hungarian Legal System |
Journal | Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, Issue 1 2021 |
Keywords | scaremongering, clear and present danger, COVID-19 pandemic, freedom of expression, Constitutional Court of Hungary |
Authors | András Koltay |
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Scaremongering criminalized as a limitation to freedom of speech in Hungarian law. In lack of relevant case-law, free speech commentators rarely discussed the provision until the Government took action to step up the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ensuing amendment of the Criminal Code in Spring 2020 brought the subject back to the forefront of public debate. The article analyses the constitutional issues related to the criminalization of scaremongering, taking the two available Constitutional Court decisions rendered in this subject as guideline. Though the newly introduced legislation attracted widespread criticism in Hungary and elsewhere in Europe, a thorough examination of the new statutory elements makes it clear that public debate and critical opinions may not be stifled by prosecuting individuals for scaremongering. Although the applicable standard cannot yet be determined with full accuracy, the Constitutional Court’s decisions and relevant academic analysis resolve the main issues in order to protect freedom of expression, while the clarification of further details remains a matter for the case-law. |
Developments in European Law |
Applicability of the GDPR on Personal Household Robots |
Journal | Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, Issue 1 2021 |
Keywords | artificial intelligence, robots, personal data, GDPR, scenarios |
Authors | Gizem Gültekin Várkonyi |
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Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics point to a close future collaboration between humans and machines. Even though the use of personal robots is not yet a phenomenon, findings in technical and legal literature highlight several possible risks inherent in the processing of personal data by such robots. This article contributes to the current discussions on the applicability of the GDPR to AI technologies from three aspects: (i) first, it encourages the use of a scenario method to predict possible future legal problems related to new technologies; (ii) second, it analyzes considerations with the support of the relevant case-law and present comparative expert opinions for overcoming the weak points of the GDPR relevant to AI; (iii) and finally, proposals made in the recommendations part aim to contribute to a better application of the GDPR to AI technologies in personal use. |
Public Health Emergency: National, European and International Law Responses |
European State Aid Rules in Times of PandemicDistorting Competition Between European Airlines? |
Journal | Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, Issue 1 2021 |
Keywords | state aid, air transport, airlines, COVID-19 pandemic, Ryanair |
Authors | Mónika Papp |
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The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had an immediate and profound impact on mobility and, more specifically, on air passenger transport: airlines were quickly stranded, and the Member States granted aid to air carriers subject to specific eligibility criteria. The Commission reacted swiftly to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and adopted its Temporary Framework under which vast amounts could be disbursed to market operators. The most controversial eligibility condition set by the Member States is the holding of a national license. This article’s research questions are, first, to explore the conditions under which Member States can grant large amounts of state aid to airlines, and second, to assess whether the requirement to hold a national license is compatible with EU law. By addressing these issues, this article seeks to improve our understanding of EU law’s capacity to tackle distortions of competition. |
Developments in European Law |
The Possibility of Using Article 72 TFEU as a Conflict-of-Law RuleHungary Seeking Derogation from EU Asylum Law |
Journal | Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, Issue 1 2021 |
Keywords | Article 72 TFEU, internal security, conflict of law, Common European Asylum System, relocation decisions |
Authors | Ágnes Töttős |
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The purpose of this article is to examine how the CJEU circumscribed the room for maneuver of Member States for safeguarding their internal security and whether the use of and reference to Article 72 TFEU changed over the past years. The starting point of the analysis is the Hungarian asylum infringement case: the article looks back at earlier case-law and identifies how the reference to Article 72 TFEU shifted from considering it an implementation clause to the attempts at using it as a conflict-of-law rule. Although the article finds that the CJEU reduced the scope of possibly using Article 72 TFEU as a conflict-of-law rule and practically excludes its application by the setting high standards for this unique form of application, the article examines some extreme situations from 2020 where it could be validly referred to. |
Editorial |
Editorial Comments: COVID-19 – EU Citizenship and the Right to Free Movement in a Public Health CrisisForeword to Vol. 9 (2021) of the Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law |
Journal | Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, Issue 1 2021 |
Authors | Laura Gyeney |
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Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 2 2021 |
Keywords | Habeas corpus, common law, detainee, consitution, liberty |
Authors | Chuks Okpaluba and Anthony Nwafor |
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Long before the coming of the Bill of Rights in written Constitutions, the common law has had the greatest regard for the personal liberty of the individual. In order to safeguard that liberty, the remedy of habeas corpus was always available to persons deprived of their liberty unlawfully. This ancient writ has been incorporated into the modern Constitution as a fundamental right and enforceable as other rights protected by virtue of their entrenchment in those Constitutions. This article aims to bring together the various understanding of habeas corpus at common law and the principles governing the writ in common law jurisdictions. The discussion is approached through a twelve-point construct thus providing a brief conspectus of the subject matter, such that one could have a better understanding of the subject as applied in most common law jurisdictions. |
Article |
The Praise for a ‘Caretaker’ LeaderGendered Press Coverage of Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès in a COVID-19 Context |
Journal | Politics of the Low Countries, Issue 2 2021 |
Keywords | political leadership, crisis, care, Belgium, gendered media coverage |
Authors | Clémence Deswert |
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Studies on media coverage of women politicians have underlined how the media contribute to the association of the figure of the political leader with masculinity. Yet, the social construction of leadership seems to evolve towards a more ‘femininity-inclusive’ definition. Research on the ‘glass cliff’ phenomenon suggests that stereotypical feminine attributes might be expected from political leaders in a time of crisis. We investigated the gendered construction of political leadership in the press in a COVID-19 context through the case of former Belgian Prime minister Sophie Wilmès. In line with the ‘think crisis-think female’ association, our discourse analysis shows an appreciation of traditionally feminine traits, and particularly care-related qualities, in the evaluation of what a ‘good’ leader should be in pandemic times, although some characteristics traditionally associated with masculinity are still considered valuable assets in the journalistic portrayal of Wilmès’ leadership. |
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Journal | Politics of the Low Countries, Issue 2 2021 |
Keywords | COVID-19, crisis-management, democratic compensators, exceptionalism |
Authors | Tom Massart, Thijs Vos, Clara Egger e.a. |
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Since January 2020, European countries have implemented a wide range of restrictions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet governments have also implemented democratic compensators in order to offset the negative impacts of restrictions. This article aims to account for the variation of their use between Belgium, the Netherlands and France. We analyse three drivers: the strength of counterpowers, the ruling parties’ ideological leanings and political support. Building on an original data set, our results distinguish between embedded and ad hoc compensators. We find that ad hoc compensators are championed mainly by counterpowers, but also by ideology of the ruling coalitions in Belgium and the Netherlands and used strategically to maintain political support in France. Evidence on the link between embedded compensators and counterpowers is more ambiguous. |
Case Reports |
2021/20 Qualification of on-call duty as actual working time (LU) |
Journal | European Employment Law Cases, Issue 2 2021 |
Keywords | Working Time |
Authors | Michel Molitor |
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In its decision rendered on 28 February 2019, the Luxembourg Court of Appeal (Cour d’appel de Luxembourg) examined under which circumstances on-call duty performed at the workplace qualifies as actual working time. |
Case Reports |
2021/22 Changes in the freedom of contract in employment contract law during a pandemic (HU) |
Journal | European Employment Law Cases, Issue 2 2021 |
Keywords | Miscellaneous |
Authors | Kristof Toth |
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On 22 May 2020, fifty-two members of the Hungarian parliament petitioned the Constitutional Court which was requested to establish the unconstitutionality of Section 6(4) of Government Decree no. 47/2020 (III. 18), its conflict with an international treaty and to annul it with retroactive effect to the date of its entry into force. According to Section 6(4) of the Decree “in a separate agreement, the employee and the employer may depart from the provisions of the Labour Code” (i.e. ‘absolute dispositivity’). The petition, among other things, alleged the violation of equal treatment and the right to rest and leisure. The Constitutional Court rejected the motion to establish the unconstitutionality of Section 6(4) and its annulment, since it was repealed on 18 June 2020. The Constitutional Court may, as a general rule, examine the unconstitutionality of the legislation in force, however it was no longer possible to examine the challenged piece of legislation in the framework of a posterior abstract norm control. |
Article |
Democratic Scrutiny of COVID-19 LawsAre Parliamentary Committees Up to the Job? |
Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 2 2021 |
Keywords | parliament, scrutiny, committees, COVID-19, rights, legislation, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom |
Authors | Sarah Moulds |
AbstractAuthor's information |
In response to the complex and potentially devastating threat posed by COVID-19, parliaments around the world have transferred unprecedented powers to executive governments and their agencies (Edgar, ‘Law-making in a Crisis’, 2020), often with the full support of the communities they represent. These laws were passed within days, sometimes hours, with limited safeguards and a heavy reliance on sunsetting provisions, some of which are dependent on the pandemic being officially called to an end. While parliaments themselves have suspended or reduced sitting days (Twomey, ‘A Virtual Australian Parliament is Possible’, 2020), parliamentary committees have emerged as the forum of choice when it comes to providing some form of parliamentary oversight of executive action. |
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Journal | European Journal of Law Reform, Issue 2 2021 |
Keywords | emergency legislation, sunset clauses, post-legislative review, COVID-19 |
Authors | Sean Molloy |
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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders across the globe scrambled to adopt emergency legislation. Amongst other things, these measures gave significant powers to governments in order to curb the spreading of a virus, which has shown itself to be both indiscriminate and deadly. Nevertheless, exceptional measures, however necessary in the short term, can have adverse consequences both on the enjoyment of human rights specifically and democracy more generally. Not only are liberties severely restricted and normal processes of democratic deliberation and accountability constrained but the duration of exceptional powers is also often unclear. One potentially ameliorating measure is the use of sunset clauses: dispositions that determine the expiry of a law or regulation within a predetermined period unless a review determines that there are reasons for extension. The article argues that without effective review processes, far from safeguarding rights and limiting state power, sunset clauses can be utilized to facilitate the transferring of emergency powers whilst failing to guarantee the very problems of normalized emergency they are included to prevent. Thus, sunset clauses and the review processes that attach to them should be approached with caution. |