EU update

This is the latest edition of Baker & McKenzie's column on developments in EU law relating to IP, IT and telecommunications. This article summarises recent developments that are considered important for practitioners, students and academics in a wide range of information technology, e-commerce, telecommunications and intellectual property areas. It cannot be exhaustive but intends to address the important points. This is a hard copy reference guide, but links to outside web sites are included where possible. No responsibility is assumed for the accuracy of information contained in these links.     

End-of-life decision-making, the principle of double effect, and the devil's choice: a response to Roger Magnusson

Recently, the principle of double effect has come under scrutiny by Magnusson who believes it provides a subterfuge for those who act so as to end the lives of their patients. Specifically, he argues that the conceptual distinction between foresight and intention is dubious and, moreover, renders patients vulnerable to involuntary euthanasia. At the same time, Magnusson wants to protect doctors from criminal liability when faced with (what he understands to be) a "devil's choice" between ending the life of a patient or under-treating pain. Hence, Magnusson proposes that, subject to specific conditions, a so-called "defence of necessity" be recognised through either common law doctrine or legislation. However, to safeguard this defence, he must rely on what he most wants to reject: a fundamental aspect of the principle of double effect.     

Conclusion: Four Recommendations to Improve Digital Electoral Oversight in the UK

To conclude this special section, this article looks at the possible avenues for regulatory reform in the field of digital campaigning. Diagnosing the need for a multi-layered approach, we argue that action is needed from government, regulators, companies, and civil society. We take each actor in turn and consider the kind of change needed, the prospects for reform, and outline four recommendations for change.     

Reflections on a course on ‘women and literature’

The authors outline the place of their course in a Polytechnic Humanities Degree and show how, concentrating primarily upon the novel and a line of women novelists from Jane Austen to Doris Lessing, new perspectives upon literary criticism and literary history in relation to society and culture are opened up. Teaching methods and attitudes are discussed in relation to the re-evaluation of the role of women as readers and critics, as well as authors. The success of the course, in terms of the interest it has aroused among students in women authors and feminist criticism is discussed, together with the effects of open recognition of differences of emphasis and point of view between the two tutors responsible for it. The authors express their confidence in the course as undermining a harmful acceptance of the idea of a single established literary tradition, which ‘happens’ to be dominated by white, male authors and critics, thus opening the way for students to appreciate how, as Adrienne Rich puts it, ‘there is another story to be told’.     

Aaron Bernard WildavskyMay 31, 1930–September 4, 1993

He is a founding editor and president of Transaction. He is author of many books and articles in professional and popular media. His most recent book, The Decomposition of Sociology,is scheduled for release in 1993 by Oxford University Press.