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This book analyses the public accountability of political actors in contemporary democratic states. Accountability as understood here is a necessary condition of democracy: delegation of power with transparency and supervision over those who are chosen to exercise the power of the state. The authors identify paths of executing accountability in the electoral process, as well as in traditional instruments of parliamentary scrutiny and other relationships between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. They track how well-known mechanisms of democracy fulfil the need to report on the exercising of an entrusted power. They also explore how new developments in the constitutional framework, that is, the post-evaluation of legislation, and beyond it in mass social movements, Big Tech companies and social media, are changing the classic and established concepts of accountable power. The book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers and policymakers working it the areas of Constitutional Law and Politics and Accountability Studies.

KI ist eine hoch innovative, aber zugleich risikoreiche Technologie. Aufgrund ihrer Lernfähigkeit und Autonomie sind ihre Entscheidungen aus ex ante Sicht kaum vorhersehbar. Auch aus ex post Perspektive bleibt ein Transparenzdefizit bestehen. Aufgrund der mit dem Einsatz von KI-Systemen verbundenen spezifischen Risiken stellt sich die Frage, ob und inwieweit der Staat gegenüber dem Bürger KI einsetzen darf. Dabei hängt das »Ob« des hoheitlichen KI-Einsatzes entscheidend von der Reichweite der Haftung des Staates auf Sekundärebene ab. Das überkommene Staatshaftungsrecht bietet hierfür de lege lata keinen ausreichenden Sekundärrechtsschutz. Der hoheitliche KI-Einsatz wäre ohne die Implementierung eines angemessenen Haftungstatbestands auf Sekundärebene verfassungswidrig. Aus diesem Blickwinkel heraus fordert Pauli die Einführung eines speziellen öffentlich-rechtlichen Gefährdungshaftungstatbestands, den sie abschließend in einem konkreten Gesetzgebungsvorschlag ausformt.

This book presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of the substantive and procedural aspects of compensation for wrongful convictions in European countries and the USA, as well as the standard derived from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The collection draws comparative conclusions as to the similarities and differences between selected jurisdictions and assesses the effectiveness of the national compensation schemes. This enables the designing of an optimum model of compensation, offering accessibility and effectiveness to the victims of miscarriages of justice and being acceptable to jurisdictions based on common law, and civil law traditions, as well as inquisitorial and adversarial types of criminal process. Moreover, the discussion of the minimum European standard as established in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights enables readers to identify how the Strasbourg Court can contribute to strengthening the compensation scheme. The book will be essential reading for students, academics and policymakers working in the areas of criminal law and procedure.

This book considers how vulnerability theory provides the basis for a reconceptualization of the liberal ideas of autonomy, equality, and freedom.Vulnerability theory argues a “vulnerable legal subject” should displace the “liberal legal subject” that currently dominates law and policy. The theory is based on the fundamental empirical realities of the material body and offers an alternative to a social contract or rights-based notion of state responsibility, both of which tend to privilege abstractions such as rationality or dignity. A vulnerability analysis poses law and policy questions based on the “vulnerable legal subject” and requires new thinking about state or governmental responsibility. To achieve a truly comprehensive and inclusive notion of what constitutes social justice or a universal or common good, vulnerability theory mandates a reassessment of both equality and freedom as these concepts are currently conceived. Presenting the work of scholars from a wide range of doctrinal areas, it is this task that the book takes up. In particular, in recognizing that many social or institutional relationships entail uneven positions of dependence and reliance, it maintains that individualized notions of equality or freedom are inadequate and must be reformulated to include a sense of collective or social justice, incorporating asymmetric or unequal allocations of responsibility, and requiring appropriate limitations on the individual.This book's reorientation of the subject, as well as the central objectives of law and policy, will appeal to scholars and students in law, vulnerability studies, gender studies, critical legal and political theory, politics, philosophy, and sociology.

This book examines one of the most emblematic cases of lawfare today: the criminal prosecution of former Brazilian President Lula. The authors argue that lawfare is not just a slogan or a game at the service of any one political ideology. Rather, it has to do with a complex, multifaceted phenomenon that should be carefully reflected upon in modern constitutional democracies, given that it is able to demolish majority rule and the rule of law. They contend it is the strategic use of the law with the purpose of delegitimizing, harming or annihilating an enemy. The literature specializing in the subject tends to alternate between analysis of only one aspect of the phenomenon or consists of extensive case studies. In order to fill this gap, this book revisits the subject and offers a sophisticated theoretical approach to lawfare, in an unprecedented combination of theory of war and theory of law. The book will be of interest to students, researchers and policy makers working in the areas of public law, international law, procedural law, anthropology of law and sociology of law, as well as political science and international relations.

Increasing international cooperation in tackling the worldwide problem of child abuse and neglect has helped to raise the profile of this important issue. Scholarly literature on the problem is growing, yet there is still a pressing need for a legal comparative commentary on the issue of child abuse claims in tort. Addressing this omission, this valuable work investigates how the factual circumstances as laid out in the landmark English cases of X v. Bedfordshire County Council and Barrett v. Enfield London Borough Council have been dealt with by the European Court of Human Rights and in a number of key jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa, France, Germany and Italy. Examining the substantive tort law in these jurisdictions, the book highlights differences in procedure and compares alternative, non-judicial sources of compensation for claimants. It also offers suggestions for reform, providing a work that will greatly benefit all those working within this specific area of law or having an interest in the subject.

This book offers a unique comparison between state and individual responsibility for international crimes and examines the theories that can explain the relationship between these two regimes. The study provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the relevant international practice from the standpoint of both international criminal law, and in particular the case law of international criminal tribunals, and state responsibility. The author shows the various connections and issues arising from the parallel establishment of state and individual responsibility for the commission of the same international crimes. These connections indicate a growing need to better co-ordinate these regimes of international responsibility. The author maintains that a general conception, according to which state and individual responsibility are two separate sets of secondary rules attached to the breach of the same primary norms, can help to solve the various issues relating to this dual responsibility. This conception of the complementarity between state and individual responsibility justifies co-ordination and consistent application of these two different regimes, each of which aims to foster compliance with the most important obligations owed to the international community as a whole.