Hurdles and Pathways to Regulatory Innovation in Digital Political Campaigning

Targeted online ads, algorithmic analytics tools, clickbait-y social media campaigns, big data voter databases—digital technologies have become a cornerstone of contemporary political campaigns in the United Kingdom. Candidates, party campaigners, and a multitude of other registered campaigners embrace digital campaigning for democratic engagement, mobilising voters and electioneering. Yet, in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it has become clear that these technologies are vulnerable to abuse and deception. Pressing issues surrounding privacy, transparency, and human rights persist, and systems of electoral law have become ill-equipped to enforce good behaviour and compliance with the law. Drawing from empirical evidence ahead of the 2019 UK general election, this article examines systemic obstacles to regulatory innovation. The inquiry provides an analysis of key policy challenges affecting elections and democracy, and develops an analytical framework pathways to regulatory innovation in the digital domain across three dimensions: (1) Institutional structures; (2) organisational processes; and (3) regulatory functions. The article puts forward practical policy recommendations to promote regulatory innovation that is tech-savvy, evidence-based and future-proof.     

Parliamentary Prorogation in Comparative Context

This paper examines the power to prorogue (or suspend) Parliament following the 2019 prorogation controversy in the UK. We outline the legal basis of prerogative-based prorogation, survey its uses in the UK and other Westminster systems, and compare it with equivalent rules in other European parliamentary democracies. The comparative perspective highlights the outlier status of the UK among comparable European democracies. In the UK, the absence of explicit legal limits on the use of prorogation gives the executive exceptional scope to employ the power for political purposes to sidestep Parliament. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for current discussions about the desirability of reforming the UK’s prorogation rules and placing express legal limits on the executive’s power.     

Critical Misunderstandings: Ineffective International Governance and the UK Nuclear Industry

In 2017, significant media and political interest was sparked by the UK decision to leave Euratom, the European Atomic Energy Community. While such interest in nuclear matters has to be welcomed, the apparent lack of knowledge displayed in the regulatory governance of the UK nuclear industry is disquieting. This article therefore offers an overview of the publicly funded UK nuclear industry and its regulatory governance including its links with European and global nuclear agencies to inform the debate and to identify critical issues in need of resolution.     

第二次世界大战后武力使用规范的演进

在国际法体系中,武装冲突法可谓编纂得最为完备的一个分支。经过数百年的积累和铺垫,第二次世界大战后武力使用规范逐渐发展成为完整的规范体系并呈现出四大特征:即为了适应国际关系的新变化武装冲突法扩大了适用范围;使用核武器是否合法成为国际法的重要问题;出现了在武装冲突中"反向"使用武力以达到实现和平目的的新方式——联合国维持和平行动以及在武装冲突中出现了大量作为作战手段而使用的性暴力行为等。然而进入21世纪以后,武装冲突的形态与样式均发生了重大变化,一方面,以无人机、自主作战机器人、纳米生物武器和网络战为代表的新型作战手段方法层出不穷;另一方面,非国家行为体在武装冲突中使用武力的情况有所增加,更出现了私人军事安保公司等法律地位在国际法上尚处于空白的交战主体。以朝核危机为标志,核武器对于国际和平与安全的巨大的潜在甚至是现实的威胁再次凸显,迅速成为国际政治和国际法中的热点核心议题。值得注意的是,即使武装冲突法的基本原则依然相对稳定,但是不断出现的新作战手段和方法,仍然给国际法和国际安全提出了一系列亟须应对的新挑战。     

论契约自由原则的发展及其动因

“契约自由是合同法的灵魂和生命。”它发源于罗马法,确立于资本主义自由竞争时期。进入20世纪后,随着其产生之社会基础的变化．各国普遍对契约自由给予一定的规制,以实现实质意义上的契约公正。从契约自由原则的兴起、确立及现代社会对其的规制,宏观把握契约自由原则发展的历史进程,并洞见其发展动因。     

系统论语境下我国刑事程序的若干反思与重构

在我国当前刑事诉讼中,系统论已经得到一定程度的关注,然而现实中其运行结果与理想还存在很大差距,影响了刑事程序功能的有效发挥。因此,有必要从理念更新和规则优化层面重构我国刑事程序系统,以促使其实现动态、平衡的发展。     

宪政视野中的政权与财产权

政权与财产权有着严格的差异和密切的联系,二者在互动演进中促进了社会的前进和发展.政权与财产权的结合与分离对社会经济政治的发展有着深刻的影响,改革进程深入的中国只有在实践中实现政权与财产权适度分离,才能为宪政中国的早日实现铺平道路.     

中国特色社会主义工会建设之理论基础初探——劳动哲学论纲

需要一种中介和桥梁,把马克思主义的普遍真理和中国工会的具体实践连接起来,把马克思主义的世界观、价值观和方法论,与工会学、劳动关系学等具体的有关工人阶级和工会的社会科学连接起来。劳动哲学就是这样一种中介和桥梁。     

社会契约理论的历史回溯、思想评价及宪政意蕴

在世界政治法律思想史中,社会契约理论源远流长。自伊壁鸠鲁开始,从格劳修斯到霍布斯,从洛克到卢梭,再到康德,他们以自然状态、自然权利、自然法为逻辑起点,演绎出天赋人权、人民主权、分权制衡、宪法至上等理论。这些理论提倡主权在民,在公法领域还探寻了宪政问题,进而为西方资本主义国家创立宪政制度奠定了思想理论基础。对这些理论的深度发掘及有鉴别地吸收运用必将有助于促进我国的宪政建设。     

国有企业经营者薪酬的法律规制——一个程序视角的分析

管理者薪酬,不仅在于给什么,而且在于如何给,此即国有企业经营者薪酬的实体与程序规制两个面向。由于缺乏自治性与适应性,实体规制面临诸多困境甚至＂失灵＂,为此,转换视角,引入和完善薪酬程序规制殊为必要,亦即基于正当程序原理完善程序规制立法以及救济与责任机制,保障程序规制得以实施。