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This document seeks to respond to the questions raised by the Australian Human Rights Commission and World Economic Forum in their ‘Artificial Intelligence: governance and leadership’ White Paper consultation. It draws upon some of the research conducted at the Allens Hub to make suggestions about if and how systems involving some component of artificial intelligence or automation should be regulated. It also seeks to create further clarity regarding the potential structure and functions of the proposed Responsible Innovation Organisation. We note that our research does not relate to all the questions asked in the White Paper consultation, and so we only set out answers in relation to those matters where our research may be relevant. We are otherwise grateful for the opportunity to present our views and hope this submission will help the Australian Human Rights Commission and World Economic Forum in their consideration.

In August 2017, the Supreme Court of India’s landmark judgment in Puttaswamy v. Union of India affirmed that the right to privacy is a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution. In Puttaswamy v. Union of India, the various opinions have observed that informational privacy is an important aspect of such privacy in this day and age. As arguments were made in this case, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), Government of India also set up a Committee of Experts to identify key data protection issues in India and recommend methods of addressing them. MEITY and the Committee of Experts have now issued a white paper which recognises the need for comprehensive data protection regulations that incorporate established data protection principles. Public comments and consultations have been called for on the basis of this paper, as we gear up to build on the fundamental right to privacy and put in place strong data protection laws to protect personal data. In this paper we analyse the only existing ‘comprehensive’ data protection rules in India, i.e. the Information Technology (Reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal data or information) Rules, 2011 (“Rules”), issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”). The paper examines the provisions of the IT Act and the Rules that provide for the protection of personal data, the kind of personal data that they apply to, as well as some of the criticisms of these provisions and their enforcement.

The fate on the planet replies on implementing sustainable practices in all sectors of life mainly environmental. Lebanon face a shortage of more than 1,300 MW production, so renewable energy can help lessen the load. The country is in need of a new policy to solve the crisis, but it is crippled by political deadlock. As the public became more aware of the environment, they started to demand more eco-friendly energy sources. Renewable energy is a valid option, but storage is a problem for practical reasons. Capacitors or batteries might offer a plausible solution for the threat of inconsistent supply. Real time experiments have proven that renewable energy sources (wind, hydraulic and solar) can generate considerable amounts of clean energy that can supply the needs of Lebanon and compensate the shortage with minimal pollution. It is recommended that the government start to consider these options as viable solutions for the energy crisis.

This paper responds to the government’s proposals for redressing the “intelligence-to-evidence” (I2E) dilemma in national security judicial proceedings, discussed in its targeted consultation document distributed in August 2017. The paper urges the need for not just law reform, but also operational reform in terms of how police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) manage their "parallel" national security investigations. We renew our doubts about the parallel investigation and the dangers it poses for national security. The paper supports the government's proposed changes to the Canada Evidence Act, s.38 national security confidentiality procedures for criminal trials. In particular, it agrees that trial court judges should be able to make and modify s.38 non-disclosure orders. It urges, however, that Parliament codify the Stinchcombe disclosure rules, and their application to national security proceedings, and not simply double-down by codifying the O'Connor "third party" rule - something that may reinforce parallel police/CSIS investigations. The paper expresses considerable skepticism for the "closed material proceeding" (CMP) proposal in civil trials implicating national security proceedings. These would produce, in essence, secret civil trials. We suspect secret civil trials would be challenged on division of power grounds, under s.96 of the Constitution Act 1867 and even under the Charter and the open court principle and, if it remains applicable, the Canadian Bill of Rights. More immediately, the CMP proposal seems likely to make a bill responding to neglected criminal law I2E issues much more controversial than it needs to be.

As 3D printers become increasingly functional and accessible, various areas of the law will be ill equipped to handle the ramifications of such futuristic technology. This technology will sneak up on current federal firearm laws and threaten to render any attempts at gun control obsolete. The lack of regulations to adequately police the 3D printing of weapons will have extreme effects on civil and criminal rights and liabilities. This note gives some background on the 3D printing process, provides an explanation of digitally manufactured firearms and discusses the current federal regulations at issue. In addition, it examines various approaches to and inherent flaws in regulating 3D printed weapons. The note also focuses on the policy implications and the heightened concern created with its application to criminal activity. Finally, it recommends an approach to 3D weapons manufacturing that balances the most critical individual and public policy concerns regarding this advanced technology.

One of the themes which resonate throughout the new treatise, Correctional Health Care: Practice, Administration, and Law. Cohen, Fred, Ed. 2017, is the rich legacy of the landmark 1976 Supreme Court Prisoner Rights case, Estelle v. Gamble. A contributing authority in this compilation on prisoners’ health care, David L. Thomas, MD, JD, EdD, describes the case’s legal and ethical game changing significance. Estelle led to a “paradigm shift” in prisoners’ constitutional rights which guaranteed under the 8th amendment that prison officials provide inmates access to medical care in accordance with professional medical opinions. Before Estelle, Dr. Thomas, who writes on chronic care, describes the delivery of prisoner’s health care as a function of and the primary prerogative of security services which offered mostly “acute episodic care.” This was a unique constitutional protection, not even available to the general public, and it required prison and medical authorities to examine the quality and delivery of inmate healthcare in this growing field. In light of this paradigm shift, Correctional Health Care: Practice, Administration, and Law systematically discusses the many ethical, administrative, legal and clinical issues which health providers require to meet the standard of care. One of the book’s important contributions is its emphasis on the deep interrelationship or “semipermeable membrane” which connects community health and prisoner health. While prisoners have a guaranteed constitutional right unmatched in the general population, the coordination of health services in correctional facilities and the community, and the importance of the ACA in the community are stressed. Despite the fact that states may not use federal funds for incarcerated persons, apart from long hospitalizations, the book emphasizes the significance of the health care coordination in the community. According to Professor Cohen, this has strong implications for attempts to reduce recidivism.

Legal outsourcing, which is a practice increasingly used by law firms in the United Kingdom and the United States to transfer work to foreign companies or firms in countries such as India or the Philippines, is still not very common among Italian companies and law firms. This is primarily due to the restrictions and limitations set forth by the law for the practice of the legal profession, which is strictly regulated. Another contributing factor is that Italian is the official language spoken and used in Italy, and it is therefore unlikely that any legal services could be effectively performed by workers whose native language is not Italian. The outsourcing of legal services is not specifically regulated by Italian law; instead, reference must be made to the general principles set forth in the Civil Code for the execution of service contracts, autonomous work, and intellectual professionals. It also is necessary to take into account the rules set forth by the National Bar Association in the Deontological Code, which applies to lawyers and law firms.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are critical mechanisms for corporate growth and potentially for increased shareholder returns. The reality, however, often does not live up to the promise, as is borne out by empirical data on the high incidence rates of M&A under-performance. At present in Australia, directors and executive management, particularly of the acquiring company, have considerable latitude to put at-risk shareholder value via M&A without any meaningful pre-event restraints or post-event sanctions (and with the benefit of the Business Judgment Rule defence). The old adage caveat emptor (‘let the buyer beware’) still holds true for buyers, but when it comes to ensuring that their own shareholders’ interests and capital are properly protected, there are few formally imposed ‘checks and balances’. Additionally, in terms of voluntary controls, there is little clarity on what are the acceptable, key activities and behaviours of the directors of the acquiring company, that represent responsible standards of conduct. The initial question to be considered is whether there is a discernible set of ‘right practices’ that provide a reference set of benchmarks for non-executive directors to know whether they are exercising the necessary care, diligence and skill in selecting and overseeing transactions. Looking from the ‘outside in’, the corollary is ‘How do shareholders in the acquiring company have some visibility and assurance that their executive management team and board are exercising (or have exercised) sufficient due diligence (in the broadest sense of the word)?’ The challenge thus arises as to how to describe the ‘right practice’ stewardship that should be exercised by ‘reasonable directors’ of the acquiring entity to manage the risks and performance of transactions – before, during and after acquisition. This article is the first of a series of four that focus on identifying and describing ‘right governance’ i.e. the required level and mix of actions and responsibilities of directors of the acquiring company, necessary for protecting the interests of their shareholders. To carry out this research, and to shed light on these gaps in knowledge and required practices, the extant commercial, governance and legal literature relating to M&A practice has been studied to understand what level of clarity it provides to non-executive directors. (This has been described in shorthand form as the t-ought for ‘theoretical ought’). Subsequently, opinions and experiences have been elicited from a cross-section of non-executive directors and Chairmen, via targeted interviews (‘grounded research’) to capture their views on good board oversight of M&A practice. (This has been described in shorthand form as the d-ought for ‘directors’ ought’). What has emerged as the board-level themes from seasoned directors have been compared to the extant literature to examine how these align and whether there are any key gaps or contradictions. In most cases, there is alignment, although the interviewed directors’ views have crystallised what in the literature could best be described as ‘un-consolidated ideas’ based on ‘an extrapolation of managerial practices’, as the body of documented knowledge is generally not targeted at board members. From these comparison has arisen an emergent theory regarding ‘right practice’. The emergent theory points to six key themes that those directors interviewed believe make a difference to deal performance: (1) the Board’s degree of strategic thinking (‘Clear strategy upfront’); (2) planning and preparation (‘Early preparation and planning’); (3) the extent of board members’ cultural due-diligence (‘Proper understanding of culture’); (4) robust business-case scrutiny and investment assessment (‘Rigorous testing of the investment business case and funding strategy’); (5) their focus on tracking the delivery of the targeted benefits (‘Effective monitoring post transaction’); and (6) the quality of their mutual challenge and critical debate (‘Well-chaired board with constructive challenge’). This process of comparison of ‘t-ought’ versus ‘d-ought’ has indicated that these initial findings have merit and should be regarded as an emergent theory. The paper that follows is the first of a four-part series: • Paper 1 covers the commercial or practitioner M&A literature to seek what guidance this provides directors involved in transactions and to uncover any material gaps • Paper 2 in similar fashion covers governance literature, again to seek guidance and to uncover any material gaps • Paper 3 covers the findings of director interviews flowing from PhD research, regarding right M&A governance • Paper 4 covers conclusions. Paper 2 available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=2880427

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are critical mechanisms for corporate growth and potentially for increased shareholder returns. The reality, however, often does not live up to the promise, as is borne out by empirical data on the high incidence rates of M&A under-performance. At present in Australia, directors and executive management, particularly of the acquiring company, have considerable latitude to put at-risk shareholder value via M&A without any meaningful pre-event restraints or post-event sanctions (and with the benefit of the Business Judgment Rule defence). The old adage caveat emptor (‘let the buyer beware’) still holds true for buyers, but when it comes to ensuring that their shareholders’ interests and capital are properly protected, there are few formally imposed ‘checks and balances’. Additionally, in terms of voluntary controls, there is little clarity on what are the acceptable, key activities and behaviours of the directors of the acquiring company, that represent responsible standards of conduct. The initial question to be considered is whether there is a discernible set of ‘right practices’ that provide a reference set of benchmarks for non-executive directors to know whether they are exercising the necessary care, diligence and skill in selecting and overseeing transactions. Looking from the ‘outside in’, the corollary is ‘How do shareholders in the acquiring company have some visibility and assurance that their executive management team and board are exercising (or have exercised) sufficient due diligence (in the broadest sense of the word) over transactions?’ The challenge thus arises as to how to describe the ‘right practice’ stewardship that should be exercised by ‘reasonable directors’ of the acquiring entity to manage the risks and performance of transactions – before, during and after acquisition. This paper is the third in a series of four that focus on identifying and describing ‘right governance’ i.e. the required level and mix of actions and responsibilities of directors of the acquiring company, necessary for protecting the interests of their shareholders. To carry out this research, and to shed light on these gaps in knowledge and required practices, three extant sources of knowledge – commercial, governance and legal literature – relating to M&A practice have been studied to understand what level of clarity it provides to non-executive directors. (This has been described in shorthand form as the t-ought for ‘theoretical ought’). It was hoped that this triangulation exercise would provide clear answers and an evidence based view as to what is right governance over M&A. it turned out that this triangulation exercise indicated a sizeable kludge gap at the intersection points. Subsequently the opinions and experiences have been elicited from a cross-section of non-executive directors and Chairmen, via targeted interviews (‘grounded research’) to capture their views on good board oversight of M&A practice. (This has been described in shorthand form as the d-ought for ‘directors’ ought’). What has emerged as the board-level themes from seasoned directors have been compared to the extant literature to examine how these align and whether there are any key gaps or contradictions. In most cases, there is alignment, although the interviewed directors’ views have crystallised what in the literature could best be described as ‘un-consolidated ideas’ based on ‘an extrapolation of managerial practices’, as the body of documented knowledge is generally not targeted at board members. From these comparisons, has arisen an emergent theory regarding ‘right practice’. The emergent theory points to six key themes that those directors interviewed believe make a difference to deal performance: (1) the Board’s degree of strategic thinking (‘Clear strategy upfront’); (2) planning and preparation (‘Early preparation and planning’); (3) the extent of board members’ cultural due-diligence (‘Proper understanding of culture’); (4) robust business-case scrutiny and investment assessment (‘Rigorous testing of the investment business case and funding strategy’); (5) their focus on tracking the delivery of the targeted benefits (‘Effective monitoring post transaction’); and (6) the quality of their mutual challenge and critical debate (‘Well-chaired board with constructive challenge’). This process of comparison of ‘t-ought’ versus ‘d-ought’ has indicated that these initial findings have merit and should be regarded as an emergent theory. The paper that follows is the third of a four-part series: • Paper 1 covered the commercial or practitioner M&A literature to see what guidance it provides directors involved in transactions • Paper 2 in similar fashion covered governance literature, again to seek guidance • Paper 3 covers the research findings flowing from director interviews into what is right governance (this paper is delivered in two parts, 3A and 3B, which are explained further below) • Paper 4 covers conclusions. Part A of the third paper follows below and covers directors' views of the need for board involvement in a range of M&A activities.

Law and popular culture is an exciting topic at the intersection of law and humanities. This booklet, the result of a Maastricht Research Based Learning project, contains five papers that reflect upon alternative perceptions of justice in popular culture. The papers deal with the law of surrogacy in soap operas, law and musicals, rights for robots in science fiction, the portrayal of law in Erin Brockovich and an inquiry into the principles of contract law in children’s cinema.

The British Columbia Law Institute began work on the Strata Property Law Project — Phase Two in summer 2013. The phase-two project builds on the consultation and research carried out in phase one of the project. It addresses legislative reform of the Strata Property Act. With the goal of promoting the development of the next generation of the act, the project’s purpose is to make recommendations in the following seven areas: (1) fundamental changes to a strata; (2) complex stratas; (3) leasehold stratas; (4) common property; (5) selected governance issues; (6) selected insurance issues; (7) selected land-title issues.The Consultation Paper on Terminating a Strata is about one aspect of the first area. It concerns what the Strata Property Act calls cancellation of a strata plan and winding up of a strata corporation, which this consultation paper labels, for simplicity’s sake, termination of a strata. Termination can be considered the end of life for a strata — the ultimate fundamental change. The timing is right to consider termination, as the earliest stratas created in British Columbia, which date to the 1960s, may soon be encountering difficult choices over repairs, renewal, or termination.The consultation paper makes 21 tentative recommendations for reform of the law. It begins by tackling the key issue of the voting threshold to authorize termination, proposing a move from the current rule of unanimous consent to a rule setting the threshold at 80 percent of all voters. From there, the consultation paper moves on to consider the notice and procedural reforms needed to integrate this new form of resolution into the Strata Property Act’s existing collective decision-making system, the measures that should be put in place to protect the interests of dissenting owners and registered chargeholders, and the appropriate transitional rule for the project committee’s reforms.

This submission by the Australian Privacy Foundation (APF) to the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) strongly endorses establishment in national legislation in Australia of a cause of action for serious invasion of an individual’s privacy. It is appropriate to describe the action as an action in tort, or a ‘privacy tort’. The Australian Privacy Foundation (APF) is Australia's leading privacy advocacy organisation. This submission is in response to the proposals in ALRC Discussion Paper 80: Serious Invasions of Privacy. Key submissions made by the APF are as follows: (i) The most effective structure of a cause of action is that which is consistent with an intentional tort; consisting of elements that a plaintiff must satisfy with countervailing defences available to any putative defendant. There should be no requirement for the court to undertake a balancing exercise as an essential element in determining whether the plaintiff can, on his or her own case, succeed or not. (ii) The cause of action for a ‘serious invasion of privacy’ should additionally be described as an ‘interference with privacy’ for the purposes of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). (iii) The focus of the tort should be upon the intrusion into a plaintiff’s seclusion or private affairs (including by unlawful surveillance) and/or the misuse or disclosure of private information about the plaintiff. (iv) There is no sound legal or policy basis for limiting the scope of the action to either intentional or reckless acts rather than incorporating negligent acts. (v) There is potential for an undesirable downward ratchet effect in the concept of “reasonable expectations”: the lack of a practical remedy enables continuation of an intrusive practice without restraint, which practice reduces the level of protection that would be “reasonably expected”, which in turn reduces the scope of the tort over time. (vi) The fourth proposed element of the tort, that it is only available where the invasion of privacy is 'serious', is both unnecessary and arbitrary. (vii) There is little utility in incorporating a balancing exercise of the plaintiff’s privacy interest against freedom of expression or other broader public interest, the fifth element of the proposed cause of action. (viii) Federal, State and Territory courts should have jurisdiction to hear a serious invasion of privacy action. However, there are very strong reasons for providing the option to complainants/plaintiffs to take a ‘serious invasion of privacy’ complaint to the Privacy Commissioner. A new sub-section 13(6) should be added to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth): ‘(6) A serious invasion of privacy under the [title of new Commonwealth Act] is an interference with the privacy of an individual,’ together with such limited consequential changes (if any) as are necessary to make the Privacy Act consistent with the new statutory action and the [title of new Commonwealth Act]. (ix) There may be a case for clarifying the law of breach of confidence even if a statutory tort were to be introduced, but some of the ALRC’s proposals are not justifiable. (x) While it is important to remove inconsistencies and promote uniformity in the the current State and Territory surveillance device and workplace surveillance laws, this must not be at the expense of reducing the level of protection of Australians against unjustified surveillance. Proposed uniform laws should apply to all existing and emerging technologies that are capable of monitoring and recording the activities of people and their data. Surveillance device laws should incorporate a mechanism for awarding compensation, or other forms of relief, to victims of unauthorised surveillance. (xi) The public interest activities of responsible journalists in investigating and reporting on matters of public interest, such as uncovering corruption, do not require a broad or vague exception for journalists. (xii) The ALRC proposal is desirable that a new APP (Australian Privacy Principle) be inserted into the Privacy Act to require an APP entity to provide a simple mechanism for an individual to request the destruction or de-identification of personal information that was provided to an APP entity by the individual. A regulator should be so empowered, preferably the Privacy Commissioner with a right of appeal to the AAT (Administrative Appeals Tribunal). (xiii) The definition of “personal information” in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) should be amended so as to confirm that the information will remain personal information, despite any steps to anonymise it, if there is any significant possibility that it may be re-identified in future.

This consultation paper examines whether British Columbia should follow the example of five other provinces and enact legislation to regulate franchising. It begins by describing the legal nature of a franchise and the different categories of franchising arrangements in use. It explores the dynamics and legal aspects of the franchisor-­franchisee relationship, and reviews the franchise legislation in force in Canada as well as the Uniform Franchises Act. American, Australian and UNIDROIT models for franchise regulation are briefly reviewed as well.The final chapter contains tentative recommendations on which readers are invited to comment. The recommendations are described as “tentative” because they are subject to reconsideration and revision following the consultation period. Following consideration of the responses to the consultation paper, BCLI will finalize and publish its recommendations in a report.

Individuals and businesses make billions of payments every day in various forms. Payers have choices about what forms of payment they will make, and payees also have some flexibility on what they will accept. Different forms of payment involve different costs and benefits for both the payer and the payee. Can it be unethical to use a particular form of payment? Can a payment system like bitcoin be “evil,” as charged by Krugman (2013)? Or does it provide a means for a more trustworthy means of payment? What are the ethical implications of paying workers with one form of payment, such as a fee-laden payroll card, over another? What are the ethical implications of choosing a payment tool, such as a rewards credit card, that imposes higher costs on the merchant? The differential nature of bargaining power between the users and operators of the dominant payment networks also raise ethical questions regarding the fairness of charges in such asymmetric power situations. A payment system, like any tool, is not “evil” by itself; it is the use that matters.

Path dependence and critical junctures refer to decisive choices and events that prompt future trajectories, which are difficult to reverse because the progression of the political or institutional consequence involves entrenched behavior, anteceding determinations, and an elevated cost of altering course. This article contends that human rights abuses that followed from the Bush Administration’s interrogation policies were the product of a path dependent process. Namely, evidence from investigations indicates that the Bush Administration chose policies, based on a primal risk-averse assumption of dire harm from terror threats, and issued an effective “call for papers” to legal advisors to have them produce opinions to make no law applicable that would restrict detention and interrogation policies. The same inner-circle of four legal advisors issued critical memoranda and the White House classified the documents under national security so that other lawyers could not critique them prior to government actions being taken. Ultimately, if one discards the premises, signified by the reality that the first terrorist attack since 9/11 occurred at the 2013 Boston Marathon, that there has been virtually no other substantial evidence of plots near perpetration or of “sleeper cells,” and that wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were unrelated to imminent and direct threats inside American borders, the initial overzealous perception of jeopardy ostensibly produced government orders that deprived human rights, undermined U.S. integrity, abused numerous innocent people in foreign countries, and violated international and domestic law. Moreover, the legal memoranda should not be perceived as an intervening variable to dilute responsibility or the chain of causation between the premise of threats and government directives that arguably cashiered international law violations, crimes, or torts.

In recent years there have been a number of claims of “biopiracy” where a company seeks patent coverage over inventions, which others feel would be an unjust “appropriation” of traditional or sacred knowledge. The SbMATE patent which was filed in 2007 (and granted in the US in 2009), relates to the identification of a gene that confers tolerance upon plants to Aluminium in the soil and to a genetically modified Sorghum containing that gene and thus displaying enhanced resistance to aluminium. The Sorghum from which the SbMATE gene was identified and cloned from is thought to have originally come from present day Tanzania. The Tanzanian government is reported to be very unhappy, as are a number of NGOs and activist groups. They have indicated that they will seek to have the patent revoked. This briefing document examines whether this might be possible. I use this examination to elucidate certain key aspects of patent law, which may be of interest to NGOs and policy makers who are interested in genetic modification (GM), patent and “biopiracy” issues. Much (?) of what is in this briefing paper will either be obvious or well known to members of the legal, especially Intellectual property community - this paper is not aimed at lawyers; I hope the readership will be wider, whilst at the same time being a rigorous examination of some key issues in the area. In this paper I argue that whilst other contested DNA patents have been successfully attacked in whole or in part, that this patent was not granted in error, according to the laws in force at the time of writing. In addition, some more general thoughts on biopiracy and IPR system are discussed; I hope this may also shed some light on why this particular patent has been subject to criticism.

This the second of two working papers produced for the "New Challenges to Data Protection" study, commissioned by the European Commission. This paper discusses the difficulties that arise if one tries to apply the main EC Directive on data protection (Directive 95/46/EC) and the data protection laws in the EU Member States that implement it, as currently drafted, to the new global social and technical context described in Working Paper No. 1, by Dr. Ian Brown. It does this by means of a comparative-legal analysis, taking into account the six European and five non-European countries studied: Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, United Kingdom, USA (Federal, California and New Jersey), Australia, Hong Kong, India and Japan. NB: Working Paper No. 1, on "The Challenges to European Data Protection Laws and Principles," can be found on Ian Brown's ssrn webpage: http://ssrn.com/author=892424. The findings of the paper presented here are summarised in another document: "Comparative Chart: Divergencies Between Data Protection Laws in the EU," which can be separately downloaded from the present ssrn page, as can the country reports on France, Germany and the UK, also written by Douwe Korff.

When one or more co-owners of land want to sell or divide the land and the other co-owners oppose it, the stalemate may be broken by recourse to the remedies of partition of the land proportionally in accordance with the size of the co-owners’ interests, or sale of the land in lieu of partition. In British Columbia, the remedy of sale is governed by the Partition of Property Act. The remedy of partition is governed by the Act only in part.Co-owners now have a presumptive right to partition and sale. The remedies can only be refused if justice requires it. If the eligible class of applicants is expanded to include mortgagees and judgment creditors, the question arises whether they too should be presumptively entitled to partition or sale on application, or whether the remedies should be discretionary in their case. The consultation paper does not take a stance on this question, and instead asks the question for purposes of consultation. Readers are invited to make their views known on that point as well as on the tentative recommendations themselves.

Whether having a conversation with a client, speaking to a judge, or interacting with another attorney, lawyers need to be able to communicate orally. In the first year of law school, however, there are not many opportunities for students to “practice” having conversations about the law in a thoughtful and professional manner. While the Socratic dialogue common in most first year courses challenges students to think on their feet, this method does not teach students how to orally describe their research path, how to orally explain their analysis of a client’s legal issue, or how to orally make a recommendation on a course of action. For this reason, I have incorporated an exercise into my Legal Research and Writing course requiring students to orally present their research results and assessment of a client’s legal issue. In this article, I explain why I include an oral research report exercise in my Legal Research and Writing class, what this exercise entails, and how legal writing professors are uniquely situated for teaching the oral research reporting skill.

Filmmaking and the narration of history have been engaged in a complex relationship ever since the early days of filmmaking. Many films tell stories unfolding in previous times or about actual historical events, and their narration of history is often criticized as inaccurate, fictitious, or even intentionally misleading. When a highly publicized film suggests a controversial narrative of a certain chapter in history, a debate usually follows in the public arena followed by a court room drama. Defamation is the key word which perhaps is the link between movies made on historic events and controversies surrounding the same. Defamation law offers a unique view of society and the changes it undergoes. When a claim of reputational injury is made, the case exposes the prejudices alive in the particular society at hand. When the law deems a claim actionable, it recognizes and, at some level, lends credence to the prejudices held. The claim by Princess Youssoupoff in 1934 that an imputation of rape or seduction is libelous reveals underlying currents in English society at the time as to class, nation and gender. The judicial recognition of the claim, and the legal and extra-legal reactions to the claim at the time and since then, further raise for examination the relationship between law and morality. To be recognized as defamatory, must an allegation impute immorality to the plaintiff? Should the law of defamation recognize societal prejudices that are real, even if deemed by lawmakers and the judiciary to be invalid? Is it the function of the law to mirror the society in which it is produced or to carry it forward? Is the defamation law all about morality? Such questions form the backdrop of the inter connection of law morality and defamation.

On the night of June 9, 2006, three detainees died in maximum security section of the Guantanamo Bay Detention facility. The military’s initial press releases reported not only that the detainees were found hanging in their cells but also that their actions were a conspiracy as part of “asymmetrical warfare” against the United States. At the same time, the military ordered all media off the island and prevented all lawyers from visiting their clients. Questions immediately arose about how three detainees, under constant supervision, were able to conspire effectively to commit coordinated suicides in non -adjacent cells. In August 2008 a heavily redacted report of the investigation concluded that the detainees had hanged themselves in their cells and that one detainee, while walking the corridors that night, had announced, “tonight’s the night.” The investigation, however, leaves many unanswered questions. Three years later it is still unclear how such coordinated conduct would have occurred, much less how heavily supervised detainees could have been dead for more than two hours before they were discovered. Further, the exact manner of the deaths remain uncertain, and the presence of rags stuffed in the detainees’ throats is unexplained. Negligence of the guards seems to have been ruled out by the absence of any disciplinary action by any military personnel. The guards were formally advised of their right to remain silent, their right to counsel and the fact that anything that they said could be used against them because their original statements were suspected to be false. No such original statement appears in the record and no guard was ultimately charged with either making a false statement or being derelict in his duty. This paper examines the investigation, not to determine what happened that night, but rather to assess why an investigation into three deaths could have could have failed to address significant issues. Further, the report raises serious questions that must be addressed if the government is to dispel rumors that the deaths were the result of something was more sinister than “asymmetrical warfare.” This report reveals the following facts: The original military press releases did not report that the detainees had been dead for more than two hours when they were discovered, nor that rigor mortis had set in by the time of discovery. There is no explanation of how three bodies could have hung in cells for at least two hours while the cells were under constant supervision, both by video camera and by guards continually walking the corridors and responsible for only 28 detainees. There is no explanation of how each of the detainees, much less all three, could have done the following: braided a noose by tearing up his sheets and/or clothing; made a mannequin of himself so it would appear to the guards he was asleep in his cell; hung sheets to block vision into the cell - a violation of Standard Operating Procedures; tied his feet together; tied his hands together; hung the noose from the metal mesh of the cell and wall and/or ceiling; climbed up on the sink; put the noose around his neck and released his weight to result in death by strangulation; and then hung undetected for at least two hours.

On the 4th of November 2009, the Swedish Parliament passed the government bill on the realization of the Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market (“the Services Directive ”). The amendments gained legal force on the 27th of December 2009. This means that a new law has been introduced, intended to realize the much debated Services Directive. In this article, the writer wishes to offer a general description of the current legal situation concerning the free movement of services, the signification of the Services Directive as well as a thorough analysis of certain specific issues related to the legal consequences of the Services Directive.

We are in the midst of a communications revolution which is transforming us from a printed-text society to a hypertext society. This screen-based technological revolution, only a few decades old, is having a profound effect on the way humans learn -- as profound an effect as mass print had on society. Having grown-up with television, video games, and computers, students currently entering law schools are vanguard of the new communication revolution. Within a few years, students reared almost entirely on digital information will be arriving in American law schools. These 21st century students learn differently than their professors, who learned primarily from printed text. These new learners present a significant challenge to legal education.This article examines how computers, the Internet and hypertext are affecting the way humans learn in much the same way as printed text did in the 16th century. The article critiques the current state of legal education and asserts that law schools must enlist the tools of the current technology revolution to assist these new learners' transition into the legal profession. The article is not a blind endorsement of technology. It cautions that the integration of electronic technology must be pedagogically sound or it will accomplish little more than technologizing unsound teaching. The article demonstrates that 21st century students identify with and therefore learn better when electronic technology is incorporated into law school teaching. Finally, the article provides a blueprint for law schools to incorporate electronic technology into the curriculum in order to achieve the goals of legal education in the 21st century.

Several states have laws that prohibit large increases in prices on consumer good, or “price gouging,” during emergency situations like pandemics. We investigate the impact of such laws on online consumer behavior using data from Google Shopping Trends during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We focus on hand sanitizer and toilet paper, two staples predominantly bought in-stores in regular times, which experienced substantial in-store shortages since the onset of the pandemic. We find robust evidence indicating anti-price gouging laws are associated with significant increases in online searches for hand sanitizer, and some evidence that these laws increase searches for toilet paper as well. These results imply the possibility that anti-price gouging laws lead to shortages for consumer staples during pandemics. Our results inform the ongoing and rigorous debate surrounding anti-price gouging laws and their potential effects during public health emergencies like COVID-19.

Please find attached the slides I presented at the George A. Leet Symposium on Nov. 6, 2020. I am going to be revising my white paper, "The Conflict between Blackrock's Shareholder Activism and ERISA's Fiduciary Duties" based on these slides. This revised version will then be published in the symposium issue of the Case Western Reserve University Law Review. I would appreciate any and all comments that you may have on this presentation.

Carbon Capture and storage from fossil fuel power plants has gained the attention of scientists as an effective method to control greenhouse gas emissions. A post-combustion CO2 capture has been conducted using ASPEN Plus V10 software based on amine absorption /desorption for flue gas from natural gas combined cycle power plant. This optimization aimed to investigate the required solvent flowrate required thermal energy and the economic analysis for 90% capture rate of the CO2 in the first case and 99% in the second case. The CO2 absorption using monoethanolamine (MEA) as a solvent has been used in both processes. The obtained results showed that increasing the capture rate from 90% to 99% causes an increase in the solvent flow rate by 12%. Also, the increase in the capture rate causes an increase in the CAPEX by 6% and an increase in the OPEX by 9%. The Thermal heat duty for MEA regeneration was also increased by 10%. The obtained results showed an increase of less than 15% in most of the parameters which are feasible to capture 99% of the CO2 from NGCC with MEA at a reasonable energy cost.

Background: China’s three inactivated enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) vaccines are the first and currently world’s only EV-A71 vaccines approved by a national regulatory authority and used to prevent EV-A71 associated diseases. The three vaccines vary by vaccine strain, manufacturing cell substrate, and antigen dose, but no head-to-head comparisons of these vaccines have been done. We compared immunogenicity of the vaccines in children 6-35 months old. Methods: We recruited healthy children aged 6-35 months who resided in a study site county into a multicentre, open-label, non-inferiority, three-group, randomised controlled trial that was conducted in five counties in China. Enrolled children were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive two doses of one of the three EV-A71 vaccines. The primary outcome was the proportion of children with EV-A71 neutralizing antibody seroconversion 4 weeks after the second dose; a secondary outcome was adverse events in the 4 weeks after each dose. Analyses of immunogenicity included all children who completed the study (per-protocol analysis). Safety analysis included all children completed safety follow-up after one or two doses. We used a 10% margin to establish non-inferiority. This trial was registered on a World Health Organization platform: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900026663). Findings: 1631 children were assessed for eligibility between Nov 4 and Nov 20, 2019. Of 1500 (92%) enrolled children, 500 were assigned to vaccine A, B, or C group; 483 in group A,484 in group B and 487 in group C completed the study. Before dose one, the seropositive rates in group A, B, and C were 9.7%, 7.2%, and 7.0%. Four weeks after the 2 nd dose, seroconversion rates of group A, B, and C were 98.8%, 99.4% and 99.8%, which were mutually non-inferior in all two-group comparisons. There were no serious adverse events in any group and no evidence of a difference among the three groups in the incidence of local adverse event or systemic adverse event. Fever was the most common adverse event. All children with reported adverse events recovered. Interpretation: Non-inferior and high seroconversion rates and equivalent safety of three EV-A71 vaccines supports selection any of the vaccines to prevent EV-A71-associated diseases. These results may be useful for regulators, vaccine policy makers, and immunization programs in China and in countries where EV-A71 is endemic. Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900026663). Funding: National Science and Technology Major Project (No:2016ZX09101120-004) Declaration of Interest: None to declare. Ethical Approval: The study was approved by the Ethical Review Committee of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (approval number 201934). This study is registered on a World Health Organization platform: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR), number ChiCTR1900026663.

Background: Real-world clinical data to support the use of casirivimab-imdevimab for the treatment of outpatients with mild to moderate coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is needed. This study aimed to assess the outcomes of casirivimab-imdevimab treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19. Methods: A retrospective cohort of 696 patients who received casirivimab-imdevimab between December 4, 2020 and April 9, 2021 was compared to a propensity-matched control of 696 untreated patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 at Mayo Clinic sites in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Primary outcome was rate of hospitalization at days 14, 21 and 28 after infusion. Findings: The median age of the antibody-treated cohort was 63 years (interquartile range, 52-71); 45·5% were ≥65 years old; 51·4% were female. High-risk characteristics were hypertension (52·4%), body mass index ≥35 (31·0%), diabetes mellitus (24·6%), chronic lung disease (22·1%), chronic renal disease (11·4%), congestive heart failure (6·6%), and compromised immune function (6·7%). Compared to the propensity-matched untreated control, patients who received casirivimab-imdevimab had significantly lower all-cause hospitalization rates at day 14 (1·2% vs 3·4%; Odds Ratio [OR], 0·26; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0·11-0·64), day 21 (1·2% vs 4·2%; OR, 0·22; 95% CI: 0·09-0·52), and day 28 (1·3% vs 4·9%; OR, 0·21; 95% CI: 0·09-0·48). Rates of intensive care unit admission and mortality at days 14, 21 and 28 were similarly low for antibody-treated and untreated groups. Interpretation:Among high-risk patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, casirivimab-imdevimab treatment was associated with a significantly lower rate of hospitalization. Funding Information: This work was funded by an intramural grant from Mayo Clinic to RRR. Declaration of Interests: CP, AP, AV, and PL are employees of nference and have financial interests in the company. JCO is supported by grants from nference, and is a paid consultant for Elsevier, Inc. and Bates College. ADB is supported by grants from NIAID (grants AI110173 and AI120698) Amfar (#109593) and Mayo Clinic (HH Shieck Khalifa Bib Zayed Al-Nahyan Named Professorship of Infectious Diseases). ADB is a paid consultant for Abbvie and Flambeau Diagnostics, is a paid member of the DSMB for Corvus Pharmaceuticals and Equilium, owns equity for scientific advisory work in Zentalis and Nference, and is founder and President of Splissen therapeutics. RRR is supported by research grants from Regeneron, Roche, Gilead and the Mayo Clinic, and is a member of DSMB for Novartis. All other have nothing to disclose. Ethics Approval Statement: The Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board approved this study. Informed consent was waived and patients without research authorization were excluded.

Red mud is produced by the production of alumina and its disposal is now a global problem. Every year large amounts of red mud are released from the bauxite calcination method and its use has become an urgent problem. The initial study investigates the possible reuse of red mud through geopolymerization and itsreaction with other solid waste, such as fly ash. This document offers a concept that studies the geopolymerization of red mud, the main industrial leftover from the refining of alumina and fly ash, an industrial leftover from the burning of coal, consumingminimummaterials. Different synthesis factors (for example, the ratio of red mud / fly ash, sodium metasilicateNonahydrate solution in a solid mixture (ratio of red mud and fly ash), diverse concentrations of sodium metasilicateNonahydrate solution, etc.). They are altered to have an effect on the evaluation of mechanical properties of the final geopolymer product. In this study, the ratio of red mud to fly ashwas maintained at 50:50 as a constant ratio, the solution to the solid mixture as 1 and the change in concentration of the sodiummetasilicateNonahydrate solution (2M-6M). The outputs of the unconfined compression test display that these aspects have a substantialimpact on the mechanical characteristics of the synthesized geopolymer. Depending on the synthesis circumstances, the unconfirmed compressive strengths range from 2.391 kg / cm² to 10.963 kg / cm² and high values can be compared with some types of Portland cement. The results shows the two most important industrial leftovers, red mud and fly ash, can be reutilised to produce geopolymers that can substitute Portland cement and can further be used in the construction of civil infrastructure.

Background: We assessed the effect of bisphosphonates (BPs) on breast cancer (BCa) patient survival and explored how long the effect can persist after treatment. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA) of prospective studies including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies and reported effect estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We performed extensive sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of the findings.\ Results: Seventeen RCTs and eight cohorts with 81508 BCa patients were identified. A significant beneficial effect of BPs on BCa survival was found (RR, 0·725; 95%CI, 0·627-0·839), and TSA results also suggested firm evidence for this beneficial effect. Both summarized results from RCTs and cohorts provides firm evidence for this effect, though the effect estimates were stronger from cohorts than RCTs (RR, 0·892; 95%CI, 0·829-0·961; 0·570; 95%CI, 0·436-0·745; respectively). This beneficial effect was confirmed for bone-metastases (RR, 0·713; 95%CI, 0·602-0·843) and postmenopausal women (RR, 0·737; 95%CI, 0·640-0·850). Importantly, our results demonstrated that this beneficial effect retained at least 1-2 years after treatment completion (RR, 0·780; 95%CI, 0·638-0·954) and could persist for up to more than 4 years after treatment completion (RR, 0·906; 95%CI, 0·832-0·987). Extensive sensitivity analyses showed the robustness of our results. The GRADE quality of evidence was generally judged to be moderate to high. Conclusions: The present study provides firm evidence for a significant beneficial effect of BPs on BCa survival in patients with early-stage BCa, particularly for bone metastases and postmenopausal patients; and this effect retained at least 1-2 years after BP treatment completion. Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO CRD42014014699. Funding Statement: This work was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant number 2018M641875 to YPL); the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (grant number YQ2019H021to YPL); the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant number 2017YFC0108602 to XDL). Declaration of Interests: None.

Background: We describe implementation, evaluate performance, and report outcomes from the first program serving an entire metropolitan area designed to rapidly deliver extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)-facilitated resuscitation to patients with refractory ventricular fibrillation/ventricular tachycardia (VF/VT) out-of-hospital (OH) cardiac arrest (CA). Methods: This observational cohort study analyzed 63 consecutive patients prospectively enrolled in the Minnesota Mobile Resuscitation Consortium’s ECMO-facilitated resuscitation program. Entry criteria included: 1) adults (aged 18-75), 2) VF/VT OHCA, 3) no return of spontaneous circulation following 3 shocks, 4) automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation with a Lund University CA System (LUCAS™), and 5) estimated transfer time of < 30 minutes. The primary endpoint was functionally favorable survival to hospital discharge with Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) 1 or 2. Secondary endpoints included program benchmarks, ECMO cannulation rate, and safety. Essential program components included emergency medical services, 3 community ECMO Initiation Hospitals with emergency department ECMO cannulation sites and 24/7 cardiac catheterization laboratories, a 24/7 mobile ECMO cannulation team, and a single, centralized ECMO intensive care unit. Results: From December 1, 2019 to April 1, 2020, 63 consecutive patients were transported and 58 (92%) met criteria and were treated by the mobile ECMO service. Mean age was 57 ± 1.8 years; 46/58 (79%) were male. Program benchmarks were variably met, 100% of patients were successfully cannulated, and no safety issues were identified. Of the 58 patients, 25/58 (43%) were discharged from the hospital with CPC 1 or 2. Conclusions: This first, community-wide ECMO-facilitated resuscitation program in the US demonstrated 100% successful cannulation, good functionally favorable survival rates, safety, and appears potentially generalizable. Funding Statement: This community implementation program was made possible by a grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust Declaration of Interests: None of the authors have any financial or personal relationships with people or organizations that could have inappropriately influenced this study. Ethics Approval Statement: The Institutional Review Board at the University of Minnesota approved this study (No. 1703M11301) with waiver of informed consent.

Background: Treatment options for outpatients with COVID-19 could reduce morbidity and prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, three-arm (1:1:1) placebo-equivalent control trial conducted remotely throughout the United States, adult outpatients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to receive HCQ (400mg BID x1day, followed by 200mg BID x9days) or placebo-equivalent (ascorbic acid) and AZ (500mg, then 250mg daily x4days) or placebo-equivalent (folic acid), stratified by risk for progression to severe COVID-19 (high-risk vs. low-risk). Self-collected mid-turbinate nasal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 PCR, FLUPro symptom surveys, EKGs and vital signs collected daily. Primary endpoints were: (a) 14-day progression to lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), 28-day COVID-19 related hospitalization, or death; (b) 14-day time to viral clearance; secondary endpoints included time to symptom resolution (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04354428). Due to the low rate of clinical outcomes, the study was terminated for operational futility. Findings: Between 15th April and 27th July 2020, 231 participants were enrolled and 219 initiated medication a median of 5.9 days after symptom onset. Incident LRTI occurred in six participants (two control, four HCQ/AZ) and COVID-19 related hospitalization in nine (four control, two HCQ, three HCQ/AZ). There were no deaths. Median time to clearance was 5 days (95% CI=4-6) in HCQ, 6 days (95% CI=4-8) in HCQ/AZ, and 8 days (95% CI=6-10) in control. HCQ but not HCQ/AZ had faster time to viral clearance (HR=1.62, 95% CI=1.01-2.60, p=0.047 & HR=1.25, 95% CI=0.75-2.07, p=0.39) compared to control. Among 197 participants who met the COVID-19 definition at enrollment, time to symptom resolution did not differ by group. Interpretation: Neither HCQ nor HCQ/AZ shortened the clinical course of outpatients with COVID-19, and HCQ, but not HCQ/AZ, had only a modest effect on SARS-CoV-2 viral shedding. HCQ and HCQ/AZ are not effective therapies for outpatient treatment of SARV-CoV-2 infection. Trial Registration Number: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04354428 Funding: The COVID-19 Early Treatment Study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (INV-017062) through the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator. University of Washington Institute of Translational Health Science (ITHS) grant support (UL1 TR002319), KL2 TR002317, and TL1 TR002318 from NCATS/NIH funded REDCap. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views, decisions, or policies of the institutions with which they are affiliated. PAN and MJA were supported by the Mayo Clinic Windland Smith Rice Comprehensive Sudden Cardiac Death Program. Conflict of Interest: Declaration of interests: CJ reports grants from BMGF for conduct of the study, and grants from CDC and NIH outside of the submitted work. HSK reports funding from NIH. PAN and MJA have a potential financial relationship with AliveCor related to QT assessment using the device, however the investigators would receive no financial benefit for use of the technology for patients at Mayo Clinic or for its use in the current study. AB reports consulting for Gates Ventures and grants from BMGF and NIH outside of the submitted work. HYC reports consulting for BMGF, Pfizer, Ellume, and Merck, and grants from Gates Ventures, NIH, CDC, BMGF, DARPA, Apple Inc., Sanofi-Pasteur, and Roche-Genentech, outside of the submitted work. Ethical Approval: Study visits were conducted via Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant telemedicine. The Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) approved this study with reliance agreements with collaborating institutions.

Objective: Tubercular meningitis (TBM) is associated with high mortality and stroke with chronic neurological sequelae even with best of care and antitubercular therapy. Studies have shown that aspirin as an adjunctive therapy might play some role in management of TBM. This systematic review and meta-analysis has been planned to evaluate the efficacy and safety of aspirin as an adjunctive therapy in TBM patients. Design and Method: We conducted a systematic search of randomized controlled trials in patients with tubercular meningitis published till October 2019 in all major clinical journals. Articles were tested for eligibility and assessed for quality and various bias. Data synthesis and analysis was done using Review manager 5.3. The primary end point for assessment of efficacy was mortality at three months. The secondary end point was stroke or composite outcome of stroke and mortality at three months. Adverse effects were also assessed as secondary safety end point. Results: Overall, three eligible randomized controlled trials with 365 participants were included that provided quantitative data for this meta-analysis. The analysis of primary and secondary end points was done using fixed effect model. There was not significant reduction in mortality [hazard ratio 0.78 (95% CI 0.45-1.35, p=0.37)] and composite outcome of mortality and new onset stroke [hazard ratio 0.86 (95% CI 0.60 - 1.24, p=0.43)] in aspirin group as compared to placebo. However, aspirin as compared to placebo significantly reduced new onset stroke [hazard ratio of 0.51 (95% CI 0.29-0.87, p=0.01)]. Conclusion: We did not find significant reduction in mortality and composite outcome (mortality and new onset stroke) with aspirin as compared to placebo but there was significant reduction in new onset stroke in aspirin group as compared to placebo with Number Needed to Treat (NNT) = 10, which might be of clinical importance since stroke is responsible for high mortality and morbidity in these subset of patients. However, a large well conducted randomized controlled trial is required to put more light on the available evidence. Funding Statement: No grant or funding was taken from any funding agencies Declaration of Interests: None to declare.

A comparison study of diesel engine single cylinder of 3.5 kW performance was analysed by means of energy and exergy analysis fueled by diesel, KB20 (80% diesel by volume with 20% karanja biodiesel) and PB20 (80% diesel with 20% polanga biodiesel) individually. The analysis was supported with theoretical or stoichiometric combustion of the fuel and on per mole of fuel source. The diesel fuel energy and exergy is higher than the tested biodiesel. However, the tested biodiesel produces a higher rate of heat loss energy and heat loss exergy loss than diesel. Less percentage of exhaust loss energy and higher percentage of exhaust loss exergy of tested biodiesel than diesel. Higher percentage of exergy destruction is observed for diesel than tested biodiesel. Regarding efficiency related to brake thermal, combustion and exergetic tested biodiesel performed well. It was observed that maximum loss occurred with exergy destruction while the minimum loss occurred with heat loss exergy. The exergy output of the tested fuels lies between 34 percentages to 35 percentages. A relative study indicates that the performance related to the energetic and exergetic bear a resemblance to common fossil fuel.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can lead to significant respiratory failure with between 14% and 18% of hospitalised patients requiring critical care admission. This study describes the impact of socioeconomic deprivation on 30-day survival following critical care admission for COVID-19, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on critical care capacity in Scotland. Methods: This cohort study used linked national hospital records including ICU, virology testing and national death records to identify and describe patients with COVID-19 admitted to a critical care unit in Scotland. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the impact of deprivation on 30-day mortality. Critical care capacity was described by reporting the percentage of baseline ICU bed utilisation required. Results: There were 735 patients with COVID-19 admitted to critical care units across Scotland from 1/3/2020 to 20/6/2020. There was a higher proportion of patients from more deprived areas, with 183 admissions (24.9%) from the most deprived quintile and 100 (13.6%) from the least deprived quintile. 30-day mortality was 34.8%. After adjusting for age, sex and ethnicity, mortality was significantly higher in patients from the most deprived quintile (OR 1.97, 95%CI 1.13, 3.41, p=0.016). ICUs serving populations with higher levels of deprivation spent a greater amount of time over their baseline ICU bed capacity. Conclusion: Patients with COVID-19 living in areas with greater socioeconomic deprivation had a higher frequency of critical care admission and a higher adjusted 30-day mortality. ICUs in health boards with higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation had both higher peak occupancy and longer duration of occupancy over normal maximum capacity. Funding Statement: None. Declaration of Interests: All authors declare: no support from any organisation for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years; NL is Director of Research, Intensive Care Society; JM is funded by a THIS.Institute (University of Cambridge) Research Fellowship (PD-2019-02-16). Ethics Approval Statement: The Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group in Public Health Scotland has a legislative remit to process personal data in relation to public health. Linkage to additional datasets was approved following scrutiny by the Public Benefit and Privacy Panel for Health and Social Care (ref 1920-0093). Access and use of the data for the purpose of this work were approved following a Public Health Scotland information governance review of linking additional internal datasets to identify patients with COVID-19. Only analysts working in Public Health Scotland had access to the linked patient data which could only be accessed via an NHS secure network.

The exponential growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in last decade has significantly changed the paper based communication to e-communication, which is emerging as a serious threat of cyber crime through computer facilitation or computer as a target. In year 2000 India did enact Information Technology (IT) Act and made first attempt at trying to define use and misuse of digital medium in the country. Understanding of cyber crimes and its curbing through India Laws is the basic theme of this paper.

Background: The diabetes patients in China have low health literacy and low levels of physical activities which may result in the poor glycemic control and other clinical outcomes. This study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of health literacy and exercise-focused interventions on clinical outcomes among Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods: In this cluster randomized controlled trial, 799 T2DM patients with the most recent A1c ≥ 7·5% (58 mmol/mol, or fasting glucose level ≥10 mmol/L) were recruited from 35 clinics in 8 communities in Shanghai, China, and randomized into one standard care (control) arm and three intervention arms receiving interventions focused on health literacy, exercise or both. A1c (primary outcome), blood pressure and lipids (secondary outcomes) were measured at baseline, 3-, 6-, 12-months of intervention period and 12-months after completion of the interventions. This trial is registered with the International Standard RCT Number Register, number ISRCTN76130594. Findings: The three intervention groups had more reductions in A1c than the control group, with 0·90% reduction in the health literacy, 0·83% in the exercise and 0·54% in the comprehensive group at 12-months (p

This short paper provides an overview of the claims made in the emerging scholarship on artificial intelligence and antitrust policy. It discusses in particular the conjecture that markets will be rife with algorithmic collusion and extractive personalized pricing. It stresses the main methodological, theoretical and empirical limitations that underpin the claims made in the scholarship, and concludes with a call for evidenced-based antitrust policy.

The right to health care is considered as being fundamental to the physical, emotional and mental well-being of all individuals. Similarly, it is considered a necessary condition for the exercise of other human rights. Emergency medical treatment (EMT) on the other hand, although an important component of the right to health, has not received the same recognition as a human right on its own. EMT is still deemed a luxury in developing countries with Kenya being no exception. In essence, the right to emergency health care is unwittingly detached from the right to health. This perhaps explains why some countries like South Africa and Kenya have recognized the significance of including in their constitutions an express provision creating an obligation, albeit from a negative right, requiring that no one be denied EMT. In Kenya, Article 43(2) provides, ‘A person shall not be denied emergency medical treatment’. What does this mean and does it place any obligation on the state to ensure the realization of this right as a social justice issue? If it does, what sort of obligation is this? Consequently, this paper seeks to identify Kenya’s position with respect to its obligation which makes it unconstitutional to refuse a person EMT. What has the country done, in terms of legislative and policy formulation, to realize this constitutional ‘negative right’? Does this obligation extend to private medical practitioners or is it limited to public hospitals?

On 11 July 2013, the Hong Kong government released a consultation document on the treatment of parody under the copyright regime. Building on two earlier consultations on digital copyright reform launched in December 2006 and April 2008, this latest consultation identified three legislative options: (1) clarifying the existing general provisions for criminal sanctions; (2) introducing a specific criminal exemption for parody; and (3) introducing a fair dealing exception for parody. In addition to parodies, these options may cover satires, caricatures, pastiches and other forms of imitations.Commissioned by the Journalism Media Studies Centre of the University of Hong Kong and submitted to the Hong Kong government as part of its consultation exercise, this position paper asserts that none of the three identified options alone can adequately address the needs, interests and concerns of internet users. Each option has its strengths and weaknesses, and each serves its own purpose. Because these options are not mutually exclusive, this paper recommends the adoption of all three options in combination with a fourth unidentified option – an exception for predominantly noncommercial user-generated content (UGC). The last option is badly needed because even a broad, unlimited copyright exception for parody, satire, caricature or pastiche would not cover most of the derivative creations generated by internet users.This position paper begins by examining each individual option identified in the consultation document. It argues that both civil and criminal exceptions, with appropriate qualifications, should be created for parodies, satires, caricatures and pastiches. It also explains why a separate criminal exception will be needed even if a fair dealing exception is to be adopted. The paper then articulates the need for the introduction of a predominantly noncommercial UGC exception, similar to the one Canada recently adopted. It further explains why creating exceptions in the copyright regime would benefit both copyright owners and internet users. The paper concludes by identifying four related issues that deserve legislative attention.

Every year, a number of major industrial catastrophes occur in the United States. They often result in tragic losses in terms of human life and environmental degradation. They also produce substantial losses for the U.S. economy, sidelining industrial capacity and wasting millions, if not billions, of dollars. While such catastrophes are not entirely preventable, two bedrock U.S. legal institutions – the regulatory and civil justice systems – offer powerful tools for avoiding them, if they are permitted to function effectively. In recent years, however, both the regulatory and civil justice systems have been marked by dysfunction and constraints. Years of attack by the anti-regulatory and tort reform movements, respectively, have left these systems unable to fulfill their respective functions, and set the stage for major catastrophes like the BP oil spill. Unless these systems are reinvigorated and freed from unnecessary constraints, the likelihood of another industrial catastrophe will remain unacceptably high. This white paper carefully examines the BP oil spill as a case study in regulatory failure and the erosion of tort law. The paper first explains how the regulatory and civil justice systems form a complex and dynamic partnership for protecting both people and the environment. Next, it reviews both regulatory failures and civil justice constraints that affected the offshore oil drilling industry, and how they enabled BP’s corporate culture – which willingly sacrificed worker safety and environmental protection in pursuit of ever-greater profits – to thrive. The paper concludes by exploring potential legal reforms that could reduce or eliminate some of the civil justice constraints that contributed to the BP oil spill. While regulatory failures and civil justice constraints contributed to the BP oil spill, the civil justice system still has a chance to help remedy the situation by holding BP accountable for its negligent or perhaps reckless behavior, and by adequately compensating the victims of this catastrophe. At the moment, it appears that the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) – the BP-established $20 billion alternative settlement fund being administered by Ken Feinberg – will serve as the primary mechanism by which many of the oil spill victims will seek compensation. It is still unclear how well this settlement process or the more traditional civil justice system will fulfill their corrective justice functions in this case. However, if these legal mechanisms are going to deter unreasonably risky action by oil companies in the future, it is imperative that they play their corrective justice roles well by compensating the victims for all of their losses in the months and years to come. The effective functioning of these compensation mechanisms, along with the implementation of the reforms discussed in this paper, will help us to better avoid industrial catastrophes in the future.

Joseph Genovesi, President of RD Legal Funding gives a brief synopsis of the legal funding industry. In this white paper, the reader will gain a basic understanding of a few methods that can be used for legal financing.

On December 3, 2008, the Commission issued its Guidance on the Commission's Enforcement Priorities in Applying Article 82 EC Treaty to Abusive Exclusionary Conduct by Dominant Undertakings (the “Guidance Paper”). This marks the end of the Commission's review on art. 82, which the Commission initiated in the summer of 2003. Prior to the Guidance Paper, DG Competition (“DG Comp”) released its Discussion Paper on the Application of Article 82 of the Treaty to Exclusionary Abuses in December 2005 (the “Discussion Paper”). This was an unusual step compared to the Commission's normal practice of producing a Green Paper, and may hint at a disagreement within the Commission as to publishing guidelines at all. The Discussion Paper was a staff paper, which was meant only for consultation to allow interested parties to express their view on a text that might become substantive guidelines later. It was not an authoritative source or even published in the Official Journal. Despite being no more than a staff discussion paper, it was drafted as substantive guidelines, which raised expectations of the Commission issuing substantive guidance at a later stage. Against these expectations, the Commission issued enforcement priorities on art. 82. This naturally raises two questions: (i) why did the Commission decide to issue enforcement priorities instead of substantive guidelines; and (ii) is the Guidance Paper in its current form a good solution? This paper explains the Commission's uneasy relationship with case law in this area of law, its desire to develop its policy beyond the framework of the Community Courts -- the Court of First Instance (CFI) and European Court of Justice (ECJ) -- and why “enforcement priorities” is not an ideal solution.

During the Bush II Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the federal agency charged with overseeing railroad safety, aggressively asserted the preemptive authority of its regulations, continuing to write broad preemption language into the preambles to its rules asserting that injured parties have no ability to seek compensation for their injuries or loss of loved ones, and even ignoring Congress’ attempt to amend the Federal Railroad Safety Act, the statute that governs federal railroad safety, to clarify that regulations issued under the statute are not intended to preempt state tort law.The white paper argues that the FRA should discontinue its efforts to preempt state tort law, explaining that a complementary system of federal regulatory standards and state common law is the best way to achieve railroad safety for passengers and railroad employees. In brief, it argues that a complementary tort system should be retained because:1. The FRA is a resource-starved agency unable to prevent accidents: State common law provides a backstop for the failure of the agency to adequately investigate accidents or enforce its regulations. 2. The FRA is captured by industry: Because the agency has placed so much responsibility with industry to regulate itself, the tort system is needed to serve as an independent monitor of industry’s activities to ensure they are undertaken with safety in mind.3. The FRA is unable to hold railroads accountable for improving safety: The agency relies on the railroad industry as a partner in doing its job, which hinders its ability to spur the railroad industry into taking appropriate measures to prevent railway accidents.4. State common law preserves corrective and protective justice: A person’s right to seek redress for harm inflicted on him or her should never be obliterated by federal preemptive power.The white paper concludes by offering various recommendations for how the FRA and Congress can each promote the complementary roles that federal regulation and state common law can play in ensuring greater railroad safety.

The laws of war have in the past decades been commonly referred to as international humanitarian law. Yet it is confusing and misleading to call this discipline “humanitarian law”. This short paper questions whether IHL is really humanitarian – after all, does IHL do more to restrain or to promote war? Is its offer of protection realistic? Or, to put it simply, is it part of the solution to war or rather part of the problem?

Using a comprehensive database of closed claims maintained by the Texas Department of Insurance since 1988, this study provides evidence on a range of issues involving medical malpractice litigation, including claim frequency, payout amounts, defense costs, and jury verdicts. The data present a picture of stability in most aspects and moderate change in others. We do not find evidence in claim outcomes of the medical malpractice insurance crisis that produced headlines over the last several years and led to legal reform in Texas and other states. Controlling for population growth, the number of large paid claims (over $25,000 in real 1988 dollars) was roughly constant from 1990-2002. The number of smaller paid claims declined. Controlling for inflation, payout per large paid claim increased over 1988-2002 by an estimated 0.1 percent insignificant) -0.5 percent (marginally significant) per year, depending on the data set, but actual payouts in tried cases showed little or no time trend. Real defense costs per large paid claim rose by 4.2-4.5 percent per year. Real total cost per large paid claim, including defense costs, rose by 0.8-1.2 percent per year. The prior working paper version of this paper is available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=678601. The working paper version contains color figures, which were converted to black and white in the published version.

On 27 February 2011, the British Foreign Secretary declared that he had 'signed a directive revoking [Colonel Qadhafi' diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom but also the diplomatic immunity of his sons, his family, his household so it's very clear where we stand on, on his status as a head of state.' This gave the impression that the United Kingdom no longer recognized Colonel Qadhafi as head of State of Libya and denied him diplomatic or personal immunity in the United Kingdom. His short paper examines the legal effects of a Direction pursuant to section 2'63) of the UK State Immunity Act 1978 and asks whether, in light of the death of hundreds of civilians and the incitement of hostility and violence against the civilian population by Colonel Qadhafi, the United Kingdom could, and should, withdraw his recognition as head of State of Libya and, consequently, deny him immunity.

This white paper explores the relationship between judicial diversity and the institutional, political, and legal environment in which judges are selected.

Post-Lisbon Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union requires the Union to ‘promote economic, social and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States’. This adds ‘territorial cohesion’ to its economic and social forms, legally entrenching a concept that remains contested. For lawyers, the significance of territorial cohesion lies in its ability, both as a concept and through its funding, to reframe the spatial, political and legal understanding of the EU, particularly in allowing regional and institutional actors within the Union to use cohesion resources to introduce new and innovative scales of governance. These are evident in the newly developed macro-regional strategies, characterised as ‘prime test cases of what territorial cohesion means in practical terms’ and in European Groupings on Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs). It is possible that by facilitating the creation of new scales of spatial governance, territorial cohesion and its associated funding is creating a ‘fourth tier’ of governance within the EU. We follow Hajer, Richardsen and Jensen in analysing spatial governance in terms of both flows and places, elaborating on the meaning of territorial cohesion. We suggest we suggest that the expenditure associated with cohesion policy demonstrates that that the EU is more than a ‘just’ regulatory state and that the extent of the money being spent on new and innovative spatial scales, has the potential to create a fourth level of the EU, introducing greater scope for governance to embed positive integration within the EU over and above the primarily legislative regulatory project. This suggests that there is, as Castells proposed, a desire to limit the spatial logic of the space of flows from ‘becoming the dominant spatial manifestation of power and function in our societies’. By creating a Europe of Places, territorial cohesion has the capacity to challenge the emphasis on economic development as the paradigm understanding of the EU and in the process refashioning our understanding of law, governance and territory within the EU.

In India, the new farm laws are intended to opening up agricultural economy and exposing farmers to free market opportunities. On the fear of exposing to market volatility, farmers are agitating for guaranteed minimum support price. The paper analysed the farm laws by using secondary data collated from various government reports and literature. Although, MSP policy achieved its objective of providing assured prices for paddy and wheat farmers and also abundant supply of food grains, it neglected other crops like pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, resulted mass undernourishment among children and women. Under the existing MSP policy with complete focus on paddy and wheat with utter neglect of other crops, farmers of pulses and oilseeds are exposed to market vagaries and volatility, resulted in low production, low profitability and excessive dependence on imports. The paper suggested a modified MSP policy as price insurance. Although the new farm laws will help in encouraging much needed private investments in agricultural infrastructure like cold chains, warehouses, collection centres and aggregation centres, they cannot ensure stable and remunerative prices to farmers. Hence, there is a need for modifying the past MSP policy to safeguard the farmers from high volatility and also low prices. Although crop insurance schemes like Prime Minister Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY) was in implementation, it covers only production risk with complete neglect of price risk. Under the new farm laws, the role of the MSP policy should be altered in such a way that (i) Procurement of paddy and wheat to meets the needs of procurement for food security, (ii) Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS) for remaining 21 crops and (iii) Provide signal price for crops with fragmented markets.