bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Private Liability and Critical Infrastructure
Authors: Faure Michael
Published: February 2017

Private liability can potentially play a crucial role in protecting critical infrastructure. Traditional liability rules will especially play their deterrent and therefore preventive effect in the case of so-called man-made “technological” disasters. By using a strict liability role and by providing solvency guarantees potential tort-feasors can be provided with incentives to take optimal preventivemeasures.However, the case of nuclear accidents, addressed inmore detail, makes clear that in practice those efficient liability rules that would be needed to generate this preventive effect are often not implemented at the legislative level. The legislator rather imposes financial limits on liability and provides for public funding, thus effectively granting a subsidy to operators. Those type of inefficient rules laid down in international conventions are obviously often the result of interest group politics.

As far as natural disasters are concerned liability rules can play less of a role given the fact that those are considered an “act of God”. One could then only consider public authority liability.However, this is not often accepted in practice and there may also be theoretical reasons to be careful with the imposition of public authority liability. Public authorities are multitask agents which need a substantial amount of discretion. That explains that many legal systems award (partial) immunity from liability to public authorities. This leads generally to the conclusion that although liability rules can play a role in the protection of critical infrastructure those rules may have important limits as well. As a result the primary instrument to protect critical infrastructure will in practice often be safety regulation rather than liability rules.
On the notion of “Partnership” in Critical Infrastructure Protection
Authors: Wiater Patricia
Published: February 2017

This article is a critical reflection on the manifoldness of the notion of “partnership” in Critical Infrastructure Protection. It is argued that the partnership arrangement can be a promising political approach to CIP if the details of public-private cooperation – that is: the participants, the duration, the responsibilities and duties, as well as possible financial compensation – are formalized. Illusionary ideas of a “partner-like” relationship between the public and the private, such as those laid down in the German “National Strategy for Critical Infrastructure Protection”, are, however, doomed to fail. State authorities have to actively offer binding regulatory arrangements to private CI firms in order to establish which companies genuinely agree to cooperate – and which do not. Due to the state's constitutional obligation to guarantee national security and protect the life and health of its citizens, introducing legal requirements is the only possible reaction to a company's refusal to cooperate. In order to avoid overly intrusive market intervention, the state's offer to private firms or their industry associations to conclude binding regulatory contracts on CIP matters may serve as a promising compromise between a laissez-faire approach and regulation.
Enforcing EU Environmental Law against Member States: Air Pollution, National Courts and the Rule of Law
Authors: Ryall Áine
Published: February 2017

Case C-404/13, The Queen, on the application of Client Earth v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs EU:C:2014:2382, OJ C – 26 of 26.1.2015, p. 6.

When a Member State finds that the limit values cannot be respected before the deadline fixed by the Air Quality Directive and wishes to postpone that deadline for a maximum of five years, that Member State is required to make an application for the postponement of the deadline by drawing up an air quality plan demonstrating how those limits will be met before the new deadline (official headnote).
Is There a Defect in the European Court's Defect Test? Musings about Acceptable Risk
Authors: Bergkamp Lucas
Published: February 2017

Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 5 March 2015 In Joined Cases C-503/13 and C-504/13, preliminary ruling in the proceedings Boston ScientificMedizintechnik GmbH v AOK Sachsen-Anhalt — Die Gesundheitskasse (C-503/13), Betriebskrankenkasse RWE (C-504/13)

On 5 March 2015, the European Court of Justice issued a preliminary ruling on two issues arising under the EU Product Liability Directive, which imposes objective, no-fault or strict liability, but not absolute liability, for defective products. Despite the wide range of issues arising under this directive, the Court has had only a few occasions to construe its ambiguous terms. This case, however, provided an opportunity to the Court to settle key issues relating to the defect test and the scope of damages compensable under the directive. As in other civil law cases, the question arises whether the Court's light treatment will provide a sound basis for the further development of product liability in Europe. The Court did not answer the questions posed by the referring court, but in some respects went beyond these questions and in other respects avoided the difficult issues raised thereby. As discussed in this note, the Court paints with a broad brush, and the test set forth in its judgment to determine whether a product is defective, may itself be defective.
How Much Better is Better Regulation?
Authors: Alemanno Alberto
Published: February 2017

Emboldened by the Spitzenkandidaten process, the new European Commission emerges as the most political yet. The Commission asks EU citizens to judge its operation by its ability ‘to deliver solutions to the big issues that cannot be addressed by the Member States alone’. The Better Regulation Package translates this political commitment into an actionable approach assuring EU citizens that the Commission will remain ‘big on big things, small on small things’. To deliver on this promise, the Commission extends the Impact Assessment system, renews its consultation procedures and adds a few institutional mechanisms so as to enhance its ‘ability to deliver’ throughout the policy cycle. But in order to do so the Commission needs to bind – and somehow control – the European Parliament and the Council, on the one hand, and the Member States, on the other, in relation to their commitment to openness, participation and evidence-based policymaking. While legitimate, this attempt raises serious doubts about the compatibility of this reform with the principle of separation of powers and, in particular, that of institutional balance. A closer look at the Better Regulation Package reveals an entirely new understanding of the Commission's own prerogatives and the way it intends to exercise its legislative and regulatory powers. And this in spite of the apparent continuity between the new and old Better Regulation initiatives and the instruments it had chosen to attain the declared objectives. With a view to lay out a future research agenda on EU Better Regulation, this article identifies the most immediate questions raised by the publication of the Package and makes a first timid attempt at addressing some of them. It aims at determining how much better, if any, is the new Better Regulation Package. It does so by discussing, first, the major novelties enacted by the Commission within its own Better Regulation system and, second, those proposed in the framework of the IIA on Better Regulation.
Which Results? Better Regulation and Institutional Politics
Authors: Wegrich Kai
Published: February 2017

How can one not applaud the renewed better regulation agenda launched by the First Vice President Timmermans? Finally this fuzzy reform field is in the hands of a strong executive politician with the authority to make substantial progress on an agenda that always appeared good on paper, but somehow did not deliver against the expectations it defined for itself. ‘Better regulation for better results’ not only promises tangible results, but it combines this with the ambition of ‘changing how we work at the European level’. This ambition should provide us – as citizens, stakeholders and scholars – with an opportunity to essentially present a scorecard concerning these results in the near future. And, indeed, experts and other stakeholders in the better regulation game do welcome the initiative.

My view on this agenda is that the promise of ‘better results’ will be hard to deliver, whereas the ambition of ‘changing how we work’ is more likely to materialize in one way or another.
Repercussions of the European Commission’s Better Regulation Agenda on Consumer Interests and Policy
Authors: Pachl Ursula
Published: February 2017

On the face of it, ‘better regulation’ sounds like a concept that no one could object to. But in contrast to past attempts to cut red tape for business and thus reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, the objective of the Juncker Commission's Better Regulation Agenda is to reduce “regulatory burden”.

The package, adopted on May 9th 2015, foresees the establishment of an impressive apparatus and toolbox for implementing the Agenda. Existing structures and procedures, such as the Regulatory Scrutiny Board and the Impact Assessment Guidelines, are being modified, and new elements such as the two REFIT Platforms, one for stakeholders and one for Member States, and the new Interinstitutional Agreement on better law-making, will be introduced.

The Agenda raises many questions and concerns From the perspective of a public interest organisation such as The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC). Several aspects of this new institutional and procedural architecture suggest that it is not designed to provide society–wide benefits by generating better regulation for all. Rhetoric about the need to reduce costs is the dominant theme throughout the entire package, framed by the ‘jobs and growth’ narrative.
German Jurisprudence on ‘Probiotic’ Claims on Baby Food, Trademarks as ‘Health Claims’ and Transitional Use of Existing Trademarks
Authors: Carreño Ignacio
Published: February 2017

On 26 February 2014, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter, BGH) held, in the case Hipp v. Milupa, that trademarks can be health claims under Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods (hereinafter the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, NHCR). The BGH, therefore, confirmed the broad interpretation of the term ‘health claim’ and remanded the case back to the Frankfurt/Main Higher Regional Court (hereinafter, OLG Frankfurt). Products bearing trademarks that existed before 1 January 2005 and that do not comply with the NHCR may continue to be marketed until 19 January 2022. On 15 January 2015, the OLG Frankfurt handed down a new judgment in the proceedings between Hipp and Milupa, relating to the question as to whether a trademark had to be used with the identical and unchanged food product before January 2005 to fall under the transitional rule, or whether changes to the product were permissible.
The Scope of ‘Patent Linkage’ in the US–South Korea Free Trade Agreement and the Potential Effects on International Trade Agreements
Authors: Laurenza Eugenia Costanza
Published: February 2017

This section is devoted to giving readers an inside view of the crossing point between intellectual property (IP) law and risk regulation. In addition to updating readers on the latest developments in IP law and policies in technological fields (including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, agriculture and foodstuffs), the section aims at verifying whether such laws and policies really stimulate scientific and technical progress and are capable of minimising the risks posed by on-going industrial developments to individuals’ health and safety, inter alia.
What the TTIP Leaks Mean for the On–going Negotiations and Future Agreement?
Authors: Alemanno Alberto
Published: February 2017

On 1May 2016,GreenpeaceNetherlands released 248 pages of TTIP negotiating texts stemming from previous negotiating rounds. Although it is not the first (and will not be the last) leak since the inception of the negotiation in 2013, this is the first to reveal the US negotiating position regarding 13 out of the 24 TTIP chapters.

As such, the TTIP leaks provide an unprecedented opportunity to not only analyse the contrasting positions of the EU and US on several issues in the ongoing negotiations, but also to test the veracity of the competing narratives devised by opponents and proponents of the agreement. To what extent do their respective storylines find support in the actual texts?

Supporters of TTIP have proposed fact-checking as an antidote against them is information around TTIP. Yet, having been predominantly advocated and provided for by the EU Commission rather than by the media, institutional fact-checking failed to counter the massive misinformation characterizing the public and political discourse surrounding the negotiations. Unfortunately, when it comes to public perception, the line between pedagogy and propaganda is fuzzy.
Thoughts on Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation in Pharmaceuticals after #TTIPleaks
Authors: Rizzi Marco
Published: February 2017

The leak of confidential documents on 2 May 2016 by GreenpeaceNetherlands allows some preliminary conclusions on both the scope and success of the negotiations so far. As regards the pharmaceuticalmarket, the current state of affairs combines the promise of steps forward with the prospect of concerning standstills. This short opinion follows key points emerging from the leaked documents n.9 (“RegulatoryCooperation”) andn.16 (“TacticalState ofPlay”) that are directly relevant to the pharmaceutical market. The themes that will be briefly discussed are, first, the regulatory cooperation mechanisms emerging fromdoc. n.9 in comparison to current cooperation processes in pharmaceutical regulation. The leaked papers suggest positive and commendable (yet far from conclusive) developments towards amore transparent and regulated framework for cooperation, while perpetuating concerns regarding fundamental policy choices and prevalence ofmercantile imperatives over competing public interests.
Sustainable Development in TTIP: A Highest Common Denominator Compromise?
Authors: Ville Ferdi De , Orbie Jan , Van den Putte Lore
Published: February 2017

The impact of TTIPleaks on the negotiations of and debate about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has been more limited than its name and announcement would lead us to expect. This is, first, because the leaked ‘consolidated documents’ only show the European Union's (EU) and United States’ (US) positions on a number of negotiating areas but does not unveil concessions made by either side in the pursuit of a compromise. Therefore, it contains little surprising information for observers of the negotiations. But a second reason for the lack of uproar is that for only about half of the expected chapters in TTIP a text has been leaked, either because there is no consolidated text yet for the other issues in the negotiations or because Greenpreace did not get hold of it. One of the chapters lacking in the TTIPleaks is on ‘Trade and Sustainable Development’. This is an interesting issue area because the advocates often argue that this chapter will help ensure that TTIP upholds and strengthens social and environmental standards.
Introduction to the Special Issue on the Man and the Machine
Authors: Burri Thomas , Wildhaber Isabelle
Published: February 2017

This special issue assembles five articles ensuing from a conference on “The Man and the Machine: When Systems Take Decisions Autonomously”, which took place on June 26 and 27, 2015, at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

The aim of the conference was to explore the broader implications of artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomous robots and vehicles. Alphabet's Deep Mind is just one example about Whom we know, at least a little, and who, we are told, will be good. Autonomous vehicles are also about to enter the market and our phones have begun to verbalize at us. Private drones are being regulated by the US Federal Aviation Administration. The five papers in this special issue address some of the legal issues the broader development raises.

The first article is on “The Implications of Modern Business-Entity Law for the Regulation of Autonomous Systems” and is written by Shawn Bayern.
Nothing Ado About Much?
Authors: Rhimes Michael
Published: February 2017

Standing is a particularly controversial aspect of EU law. In the Lisbon Treaty, a third head was added to Art 263(4) with the aim of liberalising standing for private litigants. This article examines the practical effects of those reforms, by reference to three cases – Bricmate, FESI and SolarWorld – where litigants sought to challenge anti–dumping measures directly before the EU courts. It concludes that the interpretation of the third head is highly unsatisfactory, both on its own terms and in light of the purpose of the third head. The EU Courts have deliberately restricted the third head of standing, to the extent of making it sometimes more difficult to satisfy than the second head. The article fleshes out a model in keeping with the purpose and text of the Lisbon reforms, and critically assesses the argument that the relaxation of standing rules would result in an unmanageable increase in the workload of the EU courts.
The Global Combat Against IUU Fishing: The United States Proposes a New Seafood Traceability Program
Authors: Simões Bruno G. , Dolle Tobias
Published: February 2017

On 5 February 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (hereinafter, NOAA),within the United States (hereinafter, US) Department of Commerce, published a Proposed Rule to create a seafood traceability programme. The programme intends to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (hereinafter, IUU) fishing, prevent fraudulent trade and to serve as the contribution of the US to the global action to combat IUU fishing, along the lines of other similar regulatory frameworks, such as the EU's extensive regulationon IUU fishing. However, despite the legitimate objectives of the measure, it is imperative that regulators take into account the potential consequences for international trade when designing such programmes.
Promoting the Off–label Use of Medicines: Where to Draw the Line?
Authors: Forwood Genevra , Killick James
Published: February 2017

In Europe, medicines can only be marketed once they have passed through a strict regulatory process, designed primarily to protect patient safety. It is only after in–depth testing on the targeted disease population, including three phases of clinical assessment and clinical trials, that a medicine will obtain a ‘marketing authorisation’. Given its primary goal of ensuring patient safety, EU law only allows a few narrow exceptions to the requirement of amarketing authorisation. Adrug can only be used “off–label”, meaning outside the limits of its marketing authorization, in authorised clinical trials or under one of the strictly defined exceptions, such as severe public health risk, compassionate use for groups of patients or for individual patients on a named patient basis.

However, in recent years, a trend has emerged Among Member States to push the boundaries of the existing regulatory system, and actively promote the off–label use of medicines on the ground that they are cheaper than the alternative, authorised medicine. It is questionable whether this trend is in line with EU law.
From Mad Cows to GMOs: The Side Effects of Modernization
Authors: Stapleton Patricia A.
Published: February 2017

Ulrich Beck's Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity provides a lens through which we can analyze contemporary debates over risk regulation of agricultural biotechnology. This article establishes the political and cultural context into which genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were introduced in the European Union, by reviewing the HIV-contaminated blood scandal, mad cow crisis, and dioxin contamination episode. These public health and food safety scandals exemplify the side effects of modernization as outlined by Beck. Beck also predicted the development of a solidarity arising from the public's anxiety over the global distribution of modernization's risks. The impact of these cases on risk regulation illustrates the political and social reaction to the invisible, global risks of late modernity. The subsequent response to this reaction in European risk regulation further demonstrates the tension between a globalizing market and public anxiety in risk society.
Private Party Standing and EU Risk Regulation: Expanded Standing Rights in the Public Interest
Authors: Bergkamp Lucas
Published: February 2017

Standing determines a person's ability to obtain judicial review of a legal act by the government. Judicial review of EU measures, including risk regulatory measures, is an important device to ensure that the rule of law is respected. Even after the changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty, private parties still have limited standing rights under EU law to challenge EU risk regulations. While they are able to challenge “decisions” addressed to them (or, in some cases, addressed to others), they generally have been unable to claim standing at the European courts to seek review of generally binding rules. These restricted standing rights for private parties have been the subject of debate and criticism, both before and after the changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty.
The Ractopamine Dispute in the Codex Alimentarius Commission
Authors: Burkard Michael
Published: February 2017

The dispute over ractopamine in the Codex Alimenta-rius Commission (CAC) exemplifi es changes in Codex proceedings. In its early days, the CAC resembled to an honourable Club of senior food safety offi cials aim-ing at setting food standards in a consensual manner. However, with the WTO connexion established in 1995, CAC proceedings are overshadowed by looming trade disputes and increasingly decided by majority voting. The tendency towards majority voting in the CAC may ultimately undermine the universality of food safety standards and the legitimacy of the CAC as an inter-national standard setting body.
Precautionary Tales – Missing the Problem and its Cause
Authors: Durodié Bill
Published: February 2017

Two recently published volumes on the concept of precaution as it is variously understood and applied across the United States and in Europe make for a fascinating comparative analysis. They also respectively offer some undoubted and invaluable insights into the subject. Sadly neither really addresses how precaution came of age or why.
Trademark Use and Liability of Referencing Service In Keyword Advertising – Google AdWords and Trademark Law
Authors: Volkmann Christian
Published: February 2017

Cases C-236/08 to C-238/08 Google France SARL, Google Inc. v. Louis Vuitton Malletier SA (C.236/08) and Google France SARL v. Viaticum, Luteciel SARL (C-237/08) and Google France SARL v. Centre national de recherche en relations humaines (CNRRH) SARL, Pierre-Alexis Thonet, Bruno Raboin, Tiger SARL (C-238/08)

1. The proprietor of a trade mark is entitled to prohibit an advertiser from advertising, on the basis of a keyword identical with that trade mark which that advertiser has, without the consent of the proprietor, selected in connection with an internet referencing service, goods or services identical with those for which that mark is registered, in the case where that advertisement does not enable an average internet user, or enables that user only with difficulty, to ascertain whether the goods or services referred to therein originate from the proprietor of the trade mark or an undertaking economically connected to it or, on the contrary, originate from a third party.
Paternalism and Health Law: Legal Promotion of a Healthy Lifestyle
Authors: Simões Fernando D.
Published: February 2017

Research in lifestyle risks is becoming more and more important, particularly with reference to what is generally known as “unhealthy diets”. The Law is now firmly established as a prominent instrument of Public Health. There are several distinctive methods of legal intervention targeted at counteracting overweight and promoting healthier lifestyles. In this paper we examine several measures that have been adopted and discuss whether Law should foster healthy diets. Our purpose is to examine the threats of falling into a paternalistic attitude when devising any regulatory intervention aimed at promoting a healthier lifestyle.
Executive Summary of the 4th Summer Academy on Global Food Law and Policy
Authors: Huizing Edinger Wieke Willemijn
Published: February 2017

At the beginning of a pleasant summer week towards the end of July, Food Law professionals from all over the world travelled to the village of Cadenabbia on Lake Como in Italy in order to participate in the fourth edition of the Summer Academy on Global Food Law and Policy. The Academy, which has established its reputation as a high-level training and networking opportunity within the world of food law and policy, was presided by Associate Professor of Law at HEC Paris, Alberto Alemanno, and organised in cooperation with Lexxion, publisher of the European Journal of Risk Regulation (EJRR) and the European Food and Feed Law Review (EFFL).
Beyond Uncertainties in the Sharing Economy: Opportunities for Social Capital
Authors: Ferrari Mariana Zuleta
Published: February 2017

The sharing economy phenomenon is expected to expand and grow steadily in the coming years. Yet, this sector lacks solid regulation, which raises concerns about its potential risks. However, users continue to engage in sharing economy practices, as opportunities appear to outweigh the perceived risks. This article argues that it is important to look beyond regulatory frameworks, and unravel the social embeddedness of sharing practices in order to provide complementary approaches to risk analysis. In particular, the focus of this article will be placed on the opportunities for building and deploying social capital in the sharing economy and its fundamental role in the development of new sharing economy practices.
Risk Regulation and the European Convention on Human Rights
Authors: Seminara Letizia
Published: February 2017

European law of risk regulation is commonly intended to be limited to the European regulation in the internal market. However, risk is also regulated in Europe by human rights law, which is often left aside in this area. In fact, disregard for the risk entailed by certain manmade activities as well as by natural events, may imply restrictions to, inter alia, the right to life and the right to respect for private and family life enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. This article aims at studying the manner in which this Convention regulates risk through human rights norms. It provides an overview of the standards set by the European Court of Human Rights in this field.
Fair Trade as an Instrument for the Regulation of Risks in the Cross-Border Surrogacy Market
Authors: Bassan Sharon
Published: February 2017

Cross-border surrogacy transactions [CBST] entail several risks for the participants and the resulting child and, consequentially, for their states. In the absence of clear standards or coherent legal rules, the global industry depends on private contracts, the result of negotiations between parties from different countries with unequal bargaining power, which distributes risks and benefits unfairly. In this article I suggest a Fair Trade model as an instrument for the regulation of these transactions.

The Fair Trade model addresses market failures and the externalization of risks. The basic principles of Fair Trade include trading process according to proper standards of quality and ethics based on a certification mechanism, a minimum price to producers, direct purchasing, transparent rules and fair distribution. In addition to quality and ethics, Fair Trade is a developmental tool, ensuring more of the economic benefits to producers in the global south.

Applying these elements on the cross-border surrogacy market can be fruitful for the regulation of risks entailed in CBST. Certification of surrogacy services can ensure proper medical standards and fundamental rights, and decrease health risks; direct purchasing through democratically elected surrogates’ co-operatives could improve the surrogates’ power of negotiation and decrease contractual risks; a minimum price could guarantee a greater income to surrogates, and social premium could be used to fund communal projects and help surrogates to improve their social position. Finally, transparency can address administrative risks and ensure that children’s rights are not violated.
An Ounce for Prevention… Germany’s Public Policy on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Authors: Loer Kathrin
Published: February 2017

This section discusses the regulation of “lifestyle risks” a term that can apply to both substances and behaviours. Lifestyle risks take place along the line of “abstinence - consumption - abuse - addiction”. This can concern substances such as food, alcohol or drugs, as well as behaviours such as gambling or sports. The section also addresses the question of the appropriate point of equilibrium between free choice and state intervention (regulation), as well as the question of when risks can be considered to be acceptable or tolerable. In line with the interdisciplinary scope of the journal, the section aims at updating readers on both the regulatory and the scientific developments in the field. It analyses legislative initiatives and judicial decisions and at the same time it provides insight into recent empirical studies on lifestyle risks.
Early life risk exposure and stunting in urban South African 2-year old children
Authors: Slemming W. , Kagura J. , Saloojee H. , Richter L. M.
Published: February 2017

Stunting is a measure of overall nutritional status and is a major public health concern because of its association with child mortality and morbidity and later adult performance. This study examined the effects of pregnancy events, birth characteristics and infant risk exposure on stunting at age 2 years. The study, established in 1990 in Soweto, an urban South African township, included 1098 mother–infant pairs enroled in the Birth to Twenty Plus longitudinal birth cohort study. In total, 22% of children were stunted at age 2 years, with males at greater risk than females [24.8 v. 19.4%, odds ratio (OR)=1.38; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03, 1.83]. In unadjusted analysis, male sex, household socio-economic status (SES), overcrowding, maternal age, maternal education, single motherhood, ethnicity, birth weight, gestational age and duration of infant breastfeeding were all significantly associated with stunting. In multivariable analysis, higher birth weight was protective against stunting for both sexes. Higher maternal education was protective for females only (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=0.35; 95% CI: 0.14, 0.87), whereas wealthier household SES protected males (AOR for richest SES group=0.39; 95% CI: 0.16, 0.92). In this and other similar settings, current stunting prevention efforts focussing on primarily providing targeted proximal interventions, such as food supplements, risk undermining the critical importance of addressing key distal determinants of stunting such as SES and maternal education.
Freedom of Information Law and Its Application in Indonesia: A Preliminary Assessment
Authors: Butt Simon
Published: February 2017

In 2008, Indonesia introduced its first “freedom of information” statute – Law 14 of 2008 on Disclosure of Public Information (the “FOI Law” or the “Law”) – which became fully operational in 2010. The FOI Law is an important component of the government transparency and accountability mechanisms established after Soeharto and his authoritarian “New Order” government fell in 1998. This article assesses the extent to which the FOI Law has been effective in requiring public bodies to disclose “public” information that they would rather keep within their ranks. More time is needed for these reforms to take hold. However, this article, which provides the first academic analysis of the freedom of information reforms “in practice”, shows that Indonesia’s central Information Commission and the courts have, with two important exceptions, applied the FOI Law in favour of information-seekers, thereby providing some reason for optimism for the future of this reform.
Comparative Law, Anti-essentialism and Intersectionality: Reflections from Southeast Asia in Search of an Elusive Balance
Authors: Jamal Arif A.
Published: February 2017

This paper explores the paradox of diversity and similarity within legal “traditions”. More particularly, in looking especially at comparative law scholarship on Southeast Asia, it asks if there are any lessons that comparative law theory can learn about how to account for commonality and difference in large and diverse contexts from the perspectives of intersectionality and anti-essentialism that have been developed in feminist scholarship. The paper concludes that feminist scholarship does not resolve the paradox that comparative legal study makes evident but that it does make us better realise the importance of open-textured “narratives of affinity” and “contingent classification” in legal contexts.
A Bolder Step towards Privacy Protection in Hong Kong: A Statutory Cause of Action
Authors: Mo Yun Ching Jojo , Koo A. K. C.
Published: February 2017

Privacy is an important value which is internationally recognised as worthy of protection. However, it has been under constant challenge for a number of reasons including changes in technology which facilitate informational and other forms of surveillance and privacy-invasive media practices. Because of its multi-faceted nature, privacy is typically regulated by a variety of different means. Data protection laws seek to ensure the fair handling of personal information. Criminal sanctions are used to outlaw more serious invasions of privacy, including certain breaches of communications privacy and uses of surveillance devices. Assorted civil actions are relied on to protect broader interests in privacy. However, the piecemeal nature of privacy protection is often found to be inadequate and victims frequently lack appropriate remedies. Therefore, many common law countries either provide for or are actively considering the introduction of civil remedies to specifically address general privacy issues. There has also been active consideration of measures to regulate media organisations, especially in the light of the Murdoch scandal in the United Kingdom. The inadequacies in the law have prompted calls for law reform in Hong Kong, and recommendations have been made in the report on Civil Liability for Invasion of Privacy (2004). It examined the need of individuals to be able to seek civil remedies for unwarranted invasion of privacy. In it the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong (HKLRC) proposed the introduction of specific statutory torts of privacy to cover acts and conduct frustrating the reasonable expectation of an individual’s privacy. It proposed that a person, who invaded another’s privacy by intruding upon their solitude or seclusion, or by intruding into their private affairs or concerns, should be liable in tort. It also recommended another tort for invasion of privacy arising out of public disclosure of private facts. This article focuses on the issue of civil liability and analyses the inadequacies of existing laws and regulatory regimes and attempts to come up with a model that is most suitable for Hong Kong. It takes the HKLRC’s recommendations as its starting point but refines and modifies them, drawing on the insights that have since become available from the work of other law reform bodies and further developments in overseas case law.
Jie Huang: Interregional Recognition and Enforcement of Civil and Commercial Judgments, Oxford and Portland, OR: Hart Publishing, 2014, 352 pp. Hardcover £65/€84.50
Authors: Cheng Tan Lee
Published: February 2017

Review of “Interregional Recognition and Enforcement of Civil and Commercial Judgments” by Professor Jie Huang (Oxford and Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing, 2014) which analyses the status quo of judgment recognition and enforcement in the Mainland China, Macao and Hong Kong under the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ regime. The book also presents a comparative study of the interregional recognition and enforcement of judgments in the US and EU.
On Research and Other Matters
Authors: Heckstall Smith S.
Published: February 2017

If the thought of another war troubles you, then don't read this article. If you would rather say to yourself as the Secretary of State said to the Air Conference, “ There won't be another war for ten years, so why worry? ” then no doubt you will think with him that it is better to let other nations have alk the bother and expense of trying to advance; after all, we are jolly fine fellows and can soon pick up. If, on the other hand, you have imagination which gives you a nasty queasy sensation when you think of what might be, then perhaps the following notes, albeit disjointed and mostly stale, may at least conjure up in you thoughts of your own on the subject. This is all that is needed to help, our advancement in the air–the stimulation of spoken and written thoughts by the British nation, for if every taxpayer in the British Empire says “ Air Force,” then the Press and Parliament will say it too.
The Importance of Low Weight Per B.H.P. and Low Fuel Consumption Per B.H.P. of the Power Plant for Aeroplanes
Authors: Rowledge A. L.
Published: February 2017

The power plant of an aeroplane is usually designed by a different person situated in a different works from the aeroplane designer, yet it is essential that both should understand something of each other's work, if the best result is to be attained. It is of the first importance that the engine designer should have a clear idea of the value to the aeroplane designer attaching to low weight per b.h.p. and low fuel consumption per b.h.p., when considering a new design or comparing the merits of existing ones.
Helicopters
Authors: Case John
Published: February 2017

At present, while we have but a vague conception of the form a practical helicopter is likely to take, it is useless to attempt to set out in detail the dynamics of helicopter flight or performance calculations. For the evolution of a practical machine of this type it seems to the author that it will be necessary first to study the stability equations neglecting everything but gravity and the screws themselves. This should show what stabilising surfaces are required, and it is with this object that the stability equations are given below. In the meanwhile it is perhaps worth while to obtain a broad view of the ground to be surveyed, and we, must expect the work to be more complicated than in the case of the aeroplane.
Scientific Methods in Aeronautics
Authors: Taylor G. I.
Published: February 2017

When your Secretary, shortly before Easter, wrote to ask me to give the Wilbur Wright Lecture he made me give him a title before writing the lecture. I therefore had to think of one which would fit any lecture I might conceivably want to give, so that when I came back after Easter I should be able to pick out one of those subjects connected with aeronautics with which I have been specially concerned, and discuss the results arrived at. When, however, I came to sit down to write the lecture itself it struck me that it might be more interesting to a general audience if I followed the line which is perhaps most obviously indicated by my title, and directed my remarks towards tracing and comparing some of the principal lines of argument which have been used in aeronautical research, without going particularly deeply into the results.
The Problem of Flapping Flight
Authors: Chatley Herbert
Published: February 2017

It is only within the last few decades that it has been possible to conceive of a flying machine operating on the flapping system which would be consistent with mechanical principles. The development of gliding or “ wedge ” flight through the medium of the screw-propelled aeroplane has largely contributed to this result, but it must not be overlooked that as far back as 1899 Prof. Maurice Fitzgerald (Trans. Roy. Soc., Vol. LXIV., p. 420, and also (A) Vol. LXXXIII., p. 72, 1909) and Rayleigh (Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc., Vol. XLIV., Pt. 2, No. 5, pp. 1-26—see Appendix III. hereto) enunciated certain of the most important factors of the problem. Whether the mechanical action should be the same as that of a bird is a matter for discussion, but anyway it is certain that a moving surface having a periodic vertical motion and a periodic change of “ attitude ” can efficiently produce lift and propulsion. The success of several rotary feathering lifting wheels (e.g., Clarkson's and Pichou's, concerning the latter see “ L'Aerophile,” March 1st, 1912) in producing appreciable lifts per horse-power is significant, but it is probable that the inventors have not sufficiently realised :—
Boats That Fly
Authors: Hume D. C. M.
Published: February 2017

You all know those jolly words from “ Alice's Adventures through the Looking Glass,” and in a measure we are about to push our way through the melting mirror of hearsay to the strange world of wonderful facts, where boats fly, and men think nothing of the sort of ascent that blew the breath out of the poor White King when he received his first dusting in the air. We will talk, you and I, of shoes for aircraft—ships that fly and sealing wax that guards the secrets that have made the British seaplane the greatest example of its kind in all the wide world.

First of all you would like to find out, I know, how aircraft manage to fly at all.

You can find that out easily. Take a large box lid or other flat surface, hold it up vertically before you and run across the room with it.

“ The time has come, ” the Walrus said,“ To talk of many things ;Of shoes and ships and sealing wax,Of cabbages and kings. ”Lewis Carroll
Special Light Weight Aero Engine
Authors: Chorlton A. E. L.
Published: February 2017

The high performance engine, whether military or commercial, is essentially the light one.

The motor
which made flying possible was an internal combustion engine, and the basic reason of its success was the direct
use of an easily volatile fuel of high heat value, namely, petrol.

The first engine
developed to use this fuel was that of Daimler, and all motor-car, boat and aviation engines have sprung from
this engine.

In order to more readily have in mind our problem, we can with advantage briefly run through
the main aero engines so far constructed with the progressive results of tests.

The engine of Gottlieb
Daimler is illustrated by Slide No. I. It had automatic inlet valves and exhaust governing, the latter being a
point to be noted.

The next slide shows the engine of the Wright Brothers. This engine weighed 8.75 lbs. per
B.H.P. inclusive; the most successful engine of to-day weighs under 3 lbs. inclusive.
Note on the Mooring of Airships by “Free” Wire Systems
Authors: Frazer R. A. , Simmons L. F. G.
Published: February 2017

In his recent lecture on “ Airship Mooring and Handling,” Captain Butcher refers to certain experiments carried out with the use of models in connection with three-wire mooring. It is, perhaps, useful to add some further details of these special experiments, which were conducted at the National Physical Laboratory.

Mention was made by Captain Butcher of the original or “ fixed ” three-wire system (see Fig. 1), which originated from the emergency mooring of R.9. Its defects lie in the occasional slackening and subsequent impulsive tightening of one or more of the mooring cables when the airship is riding in gusty weather. In the particular modifications introduced by the N.P.L., breakdown due to this contingency is eliminated.
A Note on the Theories of Screw Propulsion
Authors: Watts Henry C.
Published: February 2017

The object of this note is to draw attention to a misconception of the theory of screw propulsion which appears in much good work now being done.

This misconception lies in the combination of the Froude inflow theory and the Drzewiecki blade element theory used in conjunction with aerofoil characteristics obtained from tests in an air tunnel.

To explain further one must refer briefly to the various theories which are put forward to account, wholly or partially, for the behaviour of a screw propeller.

The theory and method of design in use for aircraft propellers is that due to Drzewiecki and modifications of it. The method in its simplest form consists in considering a tangential element of the blade as an aerofoil.
A Few Remarks Concerning Some Fundamentals of the Theory of Blade-Screws
Authors: De Bothezat George
Published: February 2017

The fundamentals of the blade-screw theory have been lately the subject of numerous discussions. Most of these discussions are the result of misunderstandings arising from the fact that the fundamental conceptions and quantities involved in the subject are left without sufficient definitions. The blade-screw problem is very complex. Its study requires the use of many new conceptions and physical laws in generalised form. For the last reason, special attention must be paid to their exact statements. The following remarks are intended to bring attention to some of the fundamentals of the subject which seem to be the main source of the misunderstandings which are the most widespread at the present time. All the considerations that follow are quite general; they take place for any blade-screw, but it is the propulsive blade-screw or propeller that we will chiefly have in view here.
Notes on the Storage of Aircraft
Authors: Hoare P. V.
Published: February 2017

Before storing an aircraft, it has to be housed, and this in turn gives rise to various operations of handling, in which each type of aircraft calls for particular detail. It is now proposed to consider the questions of housing and handling for each of the types of aircraft given as typical examples for storage.

As for storage, there again appears general facts which may apply equally well to all types of aircraft, and then particular treatment for each type.

With a large type of aircraft a good deal of care is necessary in handling during the process of getting it into and out of the storage shed. The difficulties then experienced will be increased in windy weather, but these may be overcome by increasing the personnel of the handling party.
Propellers:
Authors: Bramwell Francis H.
Published: February 2017

The material for this paper was collected for a written communication to the Research Committee for publication in The Aëronautical Journal, in the form of a brief annotated account of the work of a number of experimenters on the performance of the screw propeller in air and water; but, at the request of the Council, a month ago, the article has been re–cast in the form of a paper.

As can be readily understood, such a catalogue would be extremely boring to those who have so kindly come here to–night to listen, so that it was considered preferable to give only some general conclusions with sufficient experimental evidence to attempt to justify them.

The short résumé has, however, been retained in the form of an Appendix, for the use of those who desire to refer to it.

It was hoped that, by keeping the paper as short as possible in this manner, there would be plenty of time for the meeting to hear the opinions of the many able members who have had experience of this subject.