Human Rights Watch v Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Victim Status,Extraterritoriality and the Search for Principled Reasoning

In Human Rights Watch v Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office the UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal found that the relevant standard of ‘victim status’ that applies in secret surveillance cases consists in a potential risk of being subjected to surveillance and that the European Convention on Human Rights does not apply to the surveillance of individuals who reside outside of the UK. This note argues that the Tribunal's finding regarding the victim status of the applicants was sound but that the underlying reasoning was not. It concludes that the Tribunal's finding on extraterritoriality is unsatisfactory and that its engagement with the European Court of Human Rights case law on the matter lacked depth. Finally, the note considers the defects of the Human Rights Watch case, and the case law on extraterritoriality more generally, against the backdrop of the place of principled reasoning in human rights adjudication.     

How to control interception-does the UK strike the right balance?

This Article critically analyses the regime for intercepting the content of communications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in the light of the recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in Kennedy v the UK. It looks at the safeguards for privacy protection provided such as the requirement for a warrant and the roles of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and the Interception of Communications Commissioner and whether these safeguards are compliant with Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights.     

Guidelines for the responsible application of data analytics

The vague but vogue notion of ‘big data’ is enjoying a prolonged honeymoon. Well-funded, ambitious projects are reaching fruition, and inferences are being drawn from inadequate data processed by inadequately understood and often inappropriate data analytic techniques. As decisions are made and actions taken on the basis of those inferences, harm will arise to external stakeholders, and, over time, to internal stakeholders as well. A set of Guidelines is presented, whose purpose is to intercept ill-advised uses of data and analytical tools, prevent harm to important values, and assist organisations to extract the achievable benefits from data, rather than dreaming dangerous dreams.     

Children's Rights and the Politics of Food: Big Food Versus Little People

This article traces the battle in the United States during the Obama administration, continuing into the Trump administration, to protect children's rights to food. It explores barriers to development of sound, science‐based food policies, including the refusal to recognize food as a human right, anti‐science denialism, hostility toward government regulation, and relative powerlessness of children. It points to the role of a “Big Food Pyramid” composed of powerful food industry and large scale distribution and marketing interests in blocking sound policies in prenatal and infant nutrition, school lunches, SNAP and WIC, the marketing to children of high fat and fructose‐laden products, and campaigns to increase youth fitness. While predicting a continuing assault at the federal level on children's rights to safe and healthy foods, the article highlights the positive role of consumer demand in shaping marketing, labeling and production of food and opportunities for leaders in the food industry and in government at local, municipal and state levels to continue the battle for sound food policies.     

互联网金融法律问题论纲—基于金融企业实务的视角

时下国内最热门的话题莫过于互联网金融,究其原因主要是因为互联网金融不仅关涉政府部门、金融机构或互联网企业,也正在改变着社会的方方面面,包括思维方式、行为习惯和商业模式。当变革带给我们巨大便利和实惠的同时,纷繁复杂的互联网金融模式也留下了各种问题和争论,然而,在互联网金融发展的初期,法律层面的问题是我们首先需要面对和解决的。以实务的视角来看,互联网金融区别于传统金融的特征在于金额小、人数多、总量大和涉及面广,因而需要我们树立开放、包容和创新的理念,去探索适合互联网金融的法律规范模式。     

对我国烟草管理体制改革的思考

站在提升我国烟草行业竞争力兼顾社会福利的角度 ,烟草行业营运管理体制改革的整体方向应该是 :规范政府管制以减少直接行政干预 ,建立烟草市场竞争机制以强化竞争 ,严格烟草产品质量标准控制以维护社会福利     

浅议诱惑侦查

诱惑侦查作为一种侦查策略容易被滥用。对于其立法性也有争论。故此,应从立法上、司法上和监督机制上对诱惑侦查进行规制,以对社会和公民进行保护。     

From Rai stones to Blockchains: The transformation of payments

Computer technology has dramatically changed the marketplace, including the way we make payments. Electronic access to funds expands liquidity and the relationships within payment networks allow strangers to build bridges of trust, increasing trade and human interaction. But electronic payment channels have also presented new challenges in security and privacy, including new forms of criminal behavior and tax avoidance for governments to address. This essay outlines some of the legal, social, and technological implications from this transformation of payments and assesses future challenges in the electronic payments frontier.     

Internet Regulation Process Model: The Effect of Societies,Communities, and Governments

The Internet is often seen as borderless and unmanageable and, therefore, not fully understandable. Starting from the assumption that it can be understood, we begin an attempt to organize the Internet by characterizing it as a behavior space in which groups categorized as societies, communities, and governments interact. We emphasize the utility of organizing the Internet and focus specifically on attempts by societies, communities, and governments to regulate the flow of information. We posit an Internet regulation process model that, we believe, explains most of the efforts to regulate the Internet. In addition, we provide some insight into the relationships between and within the various groups involved. Our conclusions center on the observation that political power (especially Western political power) has been a defining factor in the regulation of the Internet as governments have played a prominent role in regulatory action.     

Direct‐to‐Consumer Genetic Testing,Gamete Donation,and the Law

Once thousands of dollars, direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) genetic testing has become affordable and readily accessible in recent years. The technology can reveal a wealth of information to consumers: health risks, ancestry composition, and connections to genetic matches through relative databases. However, the law has not yet regulated many aspects of this new technology. This article analyzes how the law should regulate DTC genetic testing within the context of gamete donation. It will argue that gamete donors’ privacy interests warrant state regulation of DTC genetic testing kits and their associated genetic relative databases. It will also explore how state regulation should balance the competing interests of gamete donors and of donor‐conceived individuals.