Social Sciences

Abstract:

In the Anthropocene, the escalating intensity of extreme weather phenomena is precipitating a structural crisis in traditional models of criminal negligence. This paper examines the erosion of irresistible natural fatality through a comparative, historical‑dogmatic analysis of the Italian caso fortuito and the Anglo‑American Act of God defense. It argues that anthropogenic climate change, combined with the rise of AI‑driven predictive technologies, transforms natural uncertainty into a governable factor, fundamentally reshaping the metric of criminal foreseeability. Using the Italian Supreme Court’s Rigopiano ruling as a global case study, the article explores the epistemological cleavage between immanent “danger” and organizational “risk”. It contends that public administrators’ liability is shifting from synchronous emergency management to the anticipatory breach of multi‑level planning and precautionary duties. Ultimately, the paper outlines a renewed paradigm of normative fault capable of addressing systemic macro‑environmental risks and bridging the gap toward restorative environmental justice.

Abstract: Gender equality has become an established principle of international human rights law and an increasingly explicit objective of sports governance. Yet formal recognition has not removed the structural inequalities that continue to shape women's participation in sport. Access to professional opportunities, economic resources, media visibility and decision-making positions remains uneven. Career progression is also affected by institutional practices that may appear neutral while operating within historically unequal structures. This article examines the relationship between gender equality and sports law from a perspective that moves beyond the mere existence of non-discrimination rules. Its central argument is that the principal weakness of the current framework lies in the distance between normative commitment and institutional implementation. International human rights standards, European policy instruments and sports-governance strategies have developed considerably. What remains less developed is the machinery through which these commitments can be tested against actual institutional outcomes.The analysis considers five connected dimensions of gender equality in sport: participation, economic opportunity, media representation, professional development and governance. Particular attention is given to the position of women within decision-making structures, because representation is not simply an indicator of equality. It also affects who determines sporting priorities, allocates resources and defines institutional responses to inequality. The article proposes an accountability-based model founded on institutional responsibility, measurable standards, transparency, independent scrutiny and proportionate response. The objective is not to impose identical outcomes across different sporting disciplines. It is to ensure that persistent and unjustified disparities become visible, explainable and subject to proportionate institutional response.The literature has developed substantive equality and accountability largely as related but distinct fields. This article connects them through an institutional test of persistent gender disparity, termed explainable disparity, to examine when a disparity should trigger explanation, scrutiny and proportionate institutional response.

Abstract: This paper examines the patentability of artificial intelligence (AI)-related inventions under the European Patent Convention (EPC), with particular attention to the framework developed by the European Patent Office (EPO) for mathematical methods and computer-implemented inventions.AI-related inventions remain subject to the ordinary patentability requirements of novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability, but the analysis requires three distinct inquiries. Under Article 52 EPC, an AI or machine-learning model claimed merely as an abstract mathematical method may be excluded, whereas a claim involving technical means may possess technical character as a whole. Under Article 56 EPC, AI-related features can support inventive step only insofar as they contribute to a technical solution to a technical problem.Under Article 83 EPC, the application must disclose the model, training process, relevant data characteristics and other implementation details to the extent necessary for the skilled person to reproduce the claimed technical effect without undue burden.EPO decisions T 0161/18 and T 1669/21 illustrate that inadequate disclosure of a neural network or computational model may result in insufficiency under Article 83 EPC and, depending on the circumstances, may also prevent reliance on the alleged technical effect for inventive step. The paper also presents an exploratory Espacenet search and a broader EP full-text patent-landscape analysis using the EPO Technology Intelligence Platform (TIP), illustrating the growth of AI-related European patenting and the effect of prosecution lag on observed grant rates.

Abstract: In the context of digital economy, the State Council designated data as a factor of production such as joining land, labor, capital, and technology in China, which not only integrates into all aspects of production and life, but also relates to the creation of a fair competition in the digital economy market with data as the core element. In practice, China has already formulated relevant provisions on data anti-monopoly at the legislative level and regulated data monopoly at the law enforcement level. However, with the development of the digital economy represented by the platform economy, the monopolistic behaviors formed by data elements have become diversified and more hidden, how to effectively regulate data monopolies is still difficult. The main reasons for the inability to effectively regulate data monopolization are that the basic theoretical system related to data is not establish, the legal attributes are not yet clear, and the data infrastructure is not perfect. To effectively regulate data monopolies, it is indispensable to implement precise, agile and interdepartmental comprehensive regulation. At the same time, the construction of the basic theoretical system for data, data circulation and trading system, and data infrastructure should also be further strengthened, to constitute a complete data anti-monopoly regulatory system suitable for China's national conditions.

Abstract: Embodied artificial intelligence introduces distinctive privacy risks through data collection modalities such as continuous sensing and imperceptible capture in physical spaces. The static data-compliance framework anchored in notice and consent proves inadequate in addressing these risks. Drawing on the theory of contextual integrity, this article examines China's legislative, judicial, and regulatory practices in privacy protection for embodied AI, and identifies two systemic deficiencies: the lack of context-specific rules and weak contextual adaptability. It then proposes a governance paradigm shift from data compliance to contextual compliance, which entails context-specific legislation, a full-lifecycle regulatory architecture spanning ex ante, intra-process, and ex post stages, refined technical standards for context-based risk classification, and strengthened international cooperation, thereby establishing a differentiated and dynamic privacy protection mechanism. The study aims to provide an institutional framework that reconciles technological innovation with the protection of personality rights, while offering insights from Chinese practice for the global governance of embodied AI.

Abstract: This article identifies the mechanism by which a state that formally protects agricultural soil, and whose climate policy pledges to safeguard it for food production, approves photovoltaic plants on its best soil. The breach is not regulatory failure but the legal production of non-observance, for the law manufactures, stage by stage, the impossibility of soil capability counting as a reason for decision. Reading property as a socio-legal infrastructure that fuses three securities (legal certainty, juridical security and land-tenure security), I identify in the Chilean case the two operations that produce non-observance. The significance test substitutes its object and defends soil as a substrate of biodiversity, not as food-producing capability; the one-stop-shop rule quarantines the state's own agrological knowledge, and the organ that sees the soil cannot act on what it sees. Linking environmental-assessment records, fiscal cadastral microdata and the CIREN capability survey, I show that 133 approved plants sit dominantly on Classes I–III (about 5,700 ha), that elite soil is occupied at 2.35 times its availability, and that approval and rejection are indistinguishable by soil class; twenty-three declarations coded in depth show soil admitted only as a technical and compensable matter. The mechanism renders dephysicalisation operational and explains why climate commitments remain confined to the voluntary by the ghost of individual property.

Abstract: This article examines when a gender-responsive public procurement obligation becomes institutionally verifiable. It analyzes Brazil’s federal policy reserving jobs for women experiencing domestic and family violence, established by Law No. 14,133/2021 and regulated by Decrees No. 11,430/2023 and No. 12,516/2025. The study uses the empirical legal design documented in the underlying doctoral thesis and preserves four non-interchangeable evidentiary layers: an audit of 163 records; a retained corpus of 74 documentary units; a comparative matrix of 67 cases and 335 evidence records; and aggregate official and administrative information. The expanded matrix identified 16 cases with high density across all four dimensions, five with partial intersectoral integration, and 51 that were not verifiable through the documentary proxy. These figures describe the expanded corpus and are not used as a federal compliance denominator. Official aggregate data documented localized implementation involving 20 women; a later administrative update reported 143 women hired across five federative units, without contract-level granularity. The findings indicate that contractual enforceability, intersectoral connectivity, and protected verifiability are necessary institutional conditions—although not sufficient evidence of social impact—for converting the mandate into a monitorable practice. The article distinguishes direct federal evidence, normative diffusion, documentary absence, and non-verifiability without inferring a national effectiveness rate.

Abstract: This comprehensive research paper critically examines the adequacy of India’s intellectual property rights (IPR) frameworks in safeguarding traditional crafts from appropriation by the global fashion industry. Despite possessing rich legislative instruments including the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act 1999, the Designs Act 2000, the Copyright Act 1957, and the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), India faces persistent challenges in preventing unauthorized commercial exploitation of its cultural heritage. Through systematic analysis of 30 highly relevant scholarly sources, this paper identifies critical gaps in enforcement mechanisms, limited legal literacy among artisan communities, inadequate international coordination, and fundamental mismatches between Western IPR paradigms and the collective, intergenerational nature of traditional knowledge. The findings reveal that while India has established defensive mechanisms to prevent biopiracy and document traditional knowledge, proactive protection against fashion appropriation remains weak. The paper concludes with recommendations for sui generis legal frameworks, enhanced international treaties, digital certification systems, and community-centered protection models that balance innovation with cultural preservation.

Abstract: The proliferation of digital technologies has created unprecedented challenges for mental health and well-being globally, prompting regulatory responses in developed nations. However, the feasibility of implementing digital detox laws in developing economies remains underexplored. This paper examines the viability of digital disconnection legislation in resource-constrained contexts through a comprehensive analysis of existing regulatory frameworks, infrastructure limitations, economic constraints, cultural factors, and political considerations. Drawing on international comparative evidence from 50 countries, we analyze policy mechanisms including right-to-disconnect legislation, screen time regulations, and internet addiction laws. Our findings reveal significant barriers to implementation in developing economies, including inadequate digital infrastructure, economic dependencies on digital platforms, cultural norms favoring hyperconnectivity, and weak regulatory enforcement capacity. Despite these challenges, emerging evidence from Latin American countries and select Asian nations demonstrates that adapted regulatory approaches emphasizing education, voluntary compliance, and phased implementation may offer viable pathways. We propose a context-sensitive policy framework that balances digital well-being objectives with developmental priorities, recommending multi-stakeholder collaboration, capacity building, and culturally grounded interventions. This research contributes to the nascent literature on digital regulation in developing contexts and provides evidence-based guidance for policymakers navigating the tension between technological advancement and public health protection.

Abstract: (1) Background: The mink farming industry was established in Ireland in the 1950s and despite a significant decline in farm numbers over subsequent decades, it remained economically important due to the employment it provided in disadvantaged rural areas. However, growing animal welfare concerns, supported by scientific reviews and advocacy from animal welfare groups and veterinary professionals, increased pressure for legislative reform. This article examines the development of the Irish mink farming industry, the factors leading to its prohibition, and Ireland's position within broader European trends concerning fur farming. (2) Methods: The article adopts a historical and legal approach, analyzing industry data, government policy, animal welfare advocacy, scientific reviews, and legislative developments from the 1950s to the enactment of the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022. (3) Results: The analysis demonstrates that mink farming declined from approximately forty producers in 1960 to three farms by 2022. Concerns about the welfare of farmed mink gained prominence, particularly following Veterinary Ireland’s call for an end to fur farming and the publication of scientific reviews challenging fur production practices. These developments informed government policy and led to legislation prohibiting the breeding and keeping of animals for fur production. (4) Conclusions: Ireland’s prohibi-tion of mink farming reflects a policy shift towards prioritizing animal welfare over a declining industry. Scientific evidence, ethical concerns, and sustained advocacy were central to this legislative change, positioning Ireland ahead of broader European Union developments in the regulation of fur farming.

Abstract: Few figures in contemporary health and sport systems sit as awkwardly as the kinesiologist. This article examines the regulatory frameworks governing kinesiology in Italy and the United States, and its central claim is that both systems, for all their differences, betray the same structural deficit: formal acknowledgement of the profession coexists with an institutional fragmentation that erodes its practical autonomy, its public recognition, and its integration into healthcare delivery. The Italian model, anchored in Legislative Decree No. 36/2021, has moved toward legislative recognition of distinct professional profiles, the basic kinesiologist, the sports kinesiologist, and the kinesiologist of preventive and adapted physical activities, but it has done so without establishing a professional order, leaving implementation to a patchwork of infra-legislative instruments and regional variation. The American model runs the other way. It operates almost entirely through private certification bodies, ACSM, NSCA, NASM and ACE, accredited by the NCCA, with Louisiana the lone state to require statutory licensure for clinical exercise physiologists. Three shared failures emerge from the comparison: the absence of a unified title-protection mechanism, the conflation of certification with regulation, and the subordination of the profession to allied health hierarchies. What both systems lack, this article argues, is not professional awareness but a coherent regulatory architecture, one that distinguishes title protection from scope-of-practice regulation, certification from licensure, and professional recognition from professional sovereignty. The method is a qualitative socio-legal comparison: legislative texts, administrative instruments, accreditation standards and the empirical labour-market literature are read against one another rather than in isolation. The aim is not to rank one system above the other. It is to show that two divergent regulatory paths converge on a single unresolved problem, namely the gap between the existence of a profession and the institutional capacity to make that profession publicly legible, accountable and autonomous. At the centre of that gap stands the vulnerable subject, whether patient, athlete or ordinary fitness participant. Where titles go unprotected and credentials multiply, the burden of telling competence from improvisation falls on the very person least equipped to bear it. Structural reform is therefore required, not as a corrective to professional ignorance but as a translation of professional identity into enforceable, coherent, publicly legible status. The architecture of such reform must distinguish, in both systems, title protection from scope-of-practice regulation, certification from licensure, and professional recognition from professional sovereignty.

Abstract: This article presents a doctrinal analysis of the way restorative justice has entered the Italian criminal system through Legislative Decree No. 150 of 10 October 2022, the so-called Cartabia reform, as later integrated by Legislative Decree No. 216 of 27 December 2024. The central theme of the paper is the model of complementarity between restorative programs and the ordinary criminal proceeding, considered in the light of Directive 2012/29/EU and Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)8 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. After reviewing the notion, the models and the application mechanisms of restorative justice, the article focuses, on the doctrinal plane, on three areas of friction within the new regulatory architecture. They concern the access of restorative programs to all stages of the proceeding, the question of safeguards in cases of intimate partner violence and gender-based crime, and the institutional design of the new Centres for restorative justice. For the third issue, the article keeps its claims at the level of the legislative text and treats any proposition on territorial variation, on the functioning of the Centres or on the implementation deficit as a hypothesis for future empirical research. On the whole, the Italian regulatory intervention looks relevant, albeit with some critical issues, and to be kept under observation for future application developments. In particular, it seems possible to assert that the reform has formally opened the doors to a relational paradigm of justice, but the cultural transition, from a criminal-centric system towards a model of relational justice, will depend, in fact, on the practical choices of judges, mediators and local authorities in the coming years.

Abstract: Technological and social development is desirable and even indispensable, which necessarily involves the restriction of new life situations within a legal framework. European legislation has been visibly struggling with this problem in recent years, but the established/ongoing regulation may be an obstacle to development. Among other things, this includes the issue of regulating platform work. The emergence and spread of platform work has numerous advantages from an economic point of view, but from a legal point of view, the cautious regulation of this relatively new employment construction is not acceptable to the majority dealing with labour law. In our opinion, the relevant EU legislation is fundamentally flawed, as it basically seeks to answer the question of whether a given legal relationship is an employment relationship or not. This is similar to trying to decide whether a mule is a horse or a donkey. Obviously, neither. Similarly, in the case of platform work, we can start from this and treat it accordingly. Thus, the present study examines why platform work can be considered a special construction and what are the labour law guarantees that are justified to be extended – at least as a rule – in this regard. Our aim is to examine whether it is possible to develop a minimum guarantee system that allows for easier transparency, greater legal certainty and a more uniform application of the law, unlike the current regulation.

Abstract: The article explores the question how the new developments in the EU copyright law influence the Slovenian legislation. Presently, the Slovenian system of collective management of copyright and related rights is under scrutiny of European Commission, which recently opened infringement proceedings for failing to correctly apply the InfoSoc Directive and Collective Right Management Directive. The future Streamz decision of the Court of Justice of European Union, initiated by the Belgian Constitutional Court, could also significantly influence the Slovenian copyright rules, since the Slovenian legislator implemented the Digital Single Market Directive by similar means as Belgian legislator. One of the pressing issues in Slovenian copyright law, which was recently considered by the Higher Court of Ljubljana, is also the collection, management, and distribution of private copying levy as one of the permittable exceptions and limitations of exclusive authors rights under InfoSoc Directive. The thorough analysis of these pressing issues reveals complex intertwining of the EU and national law regarding collective management of exclusive author’s rights and of various remuneration rights. The article, focusing on legal-dogmatic approach and the analysis of legal sources using grammatical, purposeful, systematical and comparative legal methods, offers overview of Slovenia's system of copyright protection, draws attention to its possible incompatibilities with EU law, and provides possible legislative solutions.

Abstract: Artificial intelligence emerges as a pivotal tool in environmental protection. This domain remains critical for sustaining natural resources vital to human survival. Escalating threats include climate change, air pollution, biodiversity loss. Existing literature explores AI’s technical applications predominantly. It overlooks comprehensive ethno-legal frameworks governing environmental deployment. This reveals a significant research gap. This study investigates AI’s capacity to enhance environmental governance while scrutinizing its ecological footprint. The objective is to evaluate AI’s dual role. AI facilitates sustainable development through innovative solutions. It exacerbates resource consumption concurrently. The study proposes regulatory mechanisms aligned with constitutional mandates–Article 48A and 51A(g), Constitution of India. A mixed-methodology approach integrates doctrinal analysis with case studies. Legal texts include the Environment Protection Act 1986. Case studies dissect AI’s efficacy. Google DeepMind achieves 40% energy reduction in data centers. SilviaTerra maps forest carbon via machine learning. Focus areas cover climate modeling, air quality forecasting, species monitoring, compliance enforcement. Preliminary results indicate AI optimizes environmental data processing—e.g., IBM Green Horizon’s 72-hour pollution forecasts—yielding promising outcomes in predictive accuracy (spatiotemporal trends) and policy support. However, findings highlight AI’s energy-intensive nature—e.g., high carbon emissions from large language models—underscoring unaddressed ecological costs. Implications suggest a balanced framework proves imperative. Reactive Reactive AI applications (e.g., Wildbook’s species tracking) excel in enforcement, yet proactive measures—energy-efficient algorithms—demand prioritization to curb e-waste. This study bridges the gap by advocating adaptive legal standards. These mirror UNFCCC commitments. AI’s environmental benefits must outweigh detriments. This ensures viability. It lays groundwork for future interdisciplinary research into scalable, ethically sound AI deployments, reinforcing sustainable development’s economic, social, environmental triad.

Abstract: The Digital Services Act (DSA) represents a landmark regulatory context aiming to secure a safer, trusted and more transparent digital environment. While the DSA establishes a harmonised regulatory framework for intermediary services across the EU, it significantly relies on national regulatory authorities for effective implementation. This article examines the implementation of the DSA in Cyprus and discusses the national legal framework adopted through primary and secondary legislation. It analyses the powers, legally mandated tasks, rights, and obligations of the digital services coordinator in Cyprus including its supervisory, investigatory, and enforcement competences as well as the sanctioning mechanisms. This article provides a comprehensive legal analysis of the coordinator’s operation and contributes to the academic debate on the national implementation of the DSA as a horizontal legal tool of intermediary services and digital platforms accessed by European citizens.

Abstract: On January 5, 2026, the Inclusive Framework effectively ended the threat of extraterri- torial tax war by issuing the Side-by-Side Package. The guidance creates a “Switch-Off Rule” that gives priority to source-state domestic law over residence-state global rules. By formalizing the Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (QDMTT) Safe Harbour and recognizing the U.S. tax system as a “Qualified Comprehensive Blended Regime” (QCBR), the package lets nations use domestic law as a legislative “shield” against extraterritorial enforcement. Jurisdictions can now protect their tax base from foreign Income Inclusion Rules (IIR) and Undertaxed Profits Rules (UTPR) by enacting a QDMTT. The package confirms that a QDMTT does not merely credit against global liability; it extinguishes the extraterritorial taxing right ab initio. It also averts a transat- lantic trade war by designating U.S. Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (erstwhile GILTI, now called as Net CFC Tested Income or NCTI) and the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (CAMT) as a QCBR, granting the U.S. system “Side-by-Side” equivalence and suspending the UTPR for U.S. multinationals. The international tax architecture has shifted from hierarchical harmonization to “interoperable sovereignty,” with the 15% global minimum now serving as a bottom-up certification standard for domestic tax floors rather than a top-down mandate.

Abstract: Advances in generative AI have brought advanced tools to tax & legal practice, but with them comes AI hallucinations, which are fabricated citations, quotes, or facts that appear plausible but are entirely false. In 2023, a notable U.S. case (Mata v. Avianca) revealed this risk when attorneys, relying on ChatGPT for research, submitted a brief containing fictitious case law and were sanctioned as a result. This incident revealed substantial risks for the tax & legal profession. Increased AI use in tax & legal submissions and decision drafting subsequently led to numerous similar global incidents. By late 2025, a collection of various datasets logged nearly 800 cases of AI-related citation errors or hallucinations” in at least 25 countries, with a marked increase in 2025 alone. These cases span court filings by lawyers and pro se litigants, as well as orders drafted by judges or tribunals. This development necessitates an examination of professional responsibility and procedural fairness concerning AI-generated falsehoods. This article analyzes how courts and administrative bodies across jurisdictions have responded to AI-generated hallucinations in tax & legal submissions and decisions, and what these responses indicate regarding emerging verification standards under existing law. The analysis compares incidents from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Israel, and other jurisdictions, focusing on the imposition or withholding of sanctions, the treatment of various actors (e.g., lawyers, self-represented parties, experts, judges), and the adaptation of tax & legal doctrines to this challenge.

Abstract: Article 136 of the newly revised Law of the People's Republic of China on Penalties for Public Order Violations establishes a ‘system for sealing public order violation records,’ with the provision that ‘records of public order violations such as drug use may be sealed’ provoking significant public debate. Against this backdrop, Professor Yin Bo of China University of Political Science and Law has repeatedly engaged with media interviews to offer a systematic theoretical defence of the sealing system. He emphasises its alignment with principles such as proportionality, protection of personal dignity, and the integration of punishment with education, positioning it as a preliminary exploration of a ‘criminal record expungement system’. This article, after comprehensively reviewing Yin Bo's principal arguments and the new legal provisions, introduces a Marxist legal analysis framework, Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law and the overall national security outlook, alongside formal logic and argumentation theory, to conduct a systematic critical analysis of his reasoning. The article contends: Firstly, from the perspective of class analysis and social structure, abstracting the sealing system as ‘universal rights protection’ risks obscuring its asymmetrical benefits within existing power structures. This may objectively reinforce ‘secondary protection’ for privileged classes while exacerbating relative insecurity among ordinary workers. Second, from the perspective of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law and key discourses on drug control, the fundamental stance of ‘putting people at the centre’ and ‘zero tolerance for drugs’ demands a higher degree of preventive prudence in balancing rights protection and public security. Yet Yinbo's argumentation significantly underestimates the external risks associated with high-risk behaviours such as drug use. Third, logically, the argument confuses categories (‘minor offences—general offences—high-risk offences’), commits the fallacy of ‘generalising from the particular’ by extrapolating systemic overreach from individual injustices, and deliberately blurs the conceptual distinction between ‘record sealing’ and ‘expungement of criminal records’. This paper ultimately advocates: while upholding the positive role of the sealing system in ‘correcting labelling discrimination,’ it is imperative to strictly differentiate between types of conduct and occupational risks. A systemic combination of ‘tiered sealing + meticulous review + rigid accountability’ should be established to genuinely achieve an institutional equilibrium that both aligns with the direction of building a China governed by law and does not undermine the overall defence of the people's war on drugs and national security in the new era.

Abstract: The life conflict represents a paradigmatic ethical dilemma in the application of autonomous driving powered by artificial intelligence, where the right to life of passengers in the vehicle collides violently with that of pedestrians outside. In these contexts, can artificial intelligence replace humans in making choices to protect passengers or prioritize passengers at the expense of pedestrians? As autonomous vehicles become increasingly widespread, the life-or-death dilemma demands clearer normative resolution. This is a central issue in legal governance and the foundational principle guiding the development of industry for public. This paper explores whether artificial intelligence can replace human decision-making and the boundaries of such decisions, addressing ethical challenges in autonomous driving through legal frameworks to advance the progress of industry.