Thinking about violence

by Henry Jones, Associate Professor in International Law, Durham Law School

This blog considers different forms and justifications for violence, ultimately supporting non-violence. It is part of the Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Network blog series.

What is violence? Is it ever justified? Is it inevitable? Who does violence to whom? The question of violence is a major theme of 20th century political theory. Rosa Luxemborg described violent struggle as the place where the proletariat become human beings.[1]   In the 21st century, the place of violence is much more ambiguous. Partly because the violence of the state has become so much more total and all-pervasive and partly because the balance of arms is so unequal. This blog considers different forms and justifications for violence, ultimately agreeing with proposals for a radical non-violence. (more…)

UK tort law on human rights abuses in supply chains: The Dyson Litigation

by Chris Riley, Reader in Commercial Law at Durham Law School, and Irene-marié Esser, Professor of Corporate Law and Governance in the School of Law, University of Glasgow

A Dyson handheld vacuum—emphasis on logo. Daniel Foster, CC BY-NC 2.0

This blog considers the extent to which UK courts are willing to adjudicate upon harms committed overseas in connection with UK company supply chains. This blog is part of the Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Network blog series.

Introduction

Recent years have seen a steady stream of litigation brought against UK parent companies for the environmental harm and human rights abuses caused by their overseas subsidiaries.  This blog considers the Court of Appeal decision of Limbu v Dyson Technology Ltd, which is significant in providing new information on how UK courts treat tortious wrongdoing in UK company supply chains. (more…)

A Postcolonial Critique of Kadie Kalma v African Minerals Ltd

by Dr Jane Rooney, Associate Professor in International Law at Durham Law School

This blog post is a post-colonial critique of the narrative produced by Judge Turner in the High Court decision of Kadie Kalma v African Minerals Ltd that dismantles the distance between England and Sierra Leone. This blog is part of the Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Network blog series. (more…)

Free Prior and Informed Consent as a collective right against business interests: insights from indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia

by Isabel Inguanzo Associate Professor Department of Political Science & Administration, University of Salamanca, Spain.

 

In this blog post Professor Inguanzo evaluates the efficacy of free, prior and informed consent for protecting indigenous people against appropriation of ancestral land for business enterprise. (more…)

Combatting Human Rights Impacts in Mining in Sierra Leone

Source Wikipedia

This blog features a conversation between Solomon Moses Sogbandi and Jane Rooney. Solomon discusses the impact of Amnesty International Sierra Leone’s report on MEYA mining human rights abuses; the reform of the Mines and Minerals Act 2009; the Koidu Limited Mining Company in the Kono District; and what is, if any, the UK’s role in combating human rights abuses in mining in Sierra Leone. (more…)

Towards a Shared Governance of Data as Digital Commons?

by Luis Roman Arciniega Gil

[This blog is part of a series on the pandemic. The introduction to the series can be found here.]

Introduction

Two types of data enjoy freedom of movement within cyberspace networks: public data and personal data. On the one hand, at the international level, public data have been subjected to a policy of openness and spontaneous dissemination, mainly since the adoption of the G8 Open Data Charter in 2013 and the International Open Data Charter in 2015.  On the other hand, personal data are generally governed by fundamental rights, namely the protection of privacy and personal data (Article 7 and 8 EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, EU-Charter). Public data are not unrelated to the guarantee of fundamental rights, especially if they are private (Lanna, 2018). Accordingly, the collection, processing and re-use of data by public or private actors is regulated by law. (more…)

WFH During the Pandemic and the Limits of Law in Solving Gender Inequalities: Domestic and Care Work in Brazil and France

by Alyane Almeida de Araujo, Université de Lille (France) and Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (Brazil)

[This blog is part of a series on the pandemic. The introduction to the series can be found here.]

What happened to work/life balance from a gender perspective during the covid pandemic in Brazil and France? This blog post attempts to answer this question by analysing the legal and the factual contexts considering the impact of stay-at-home orders on the possibility to work from home (WFH) and the gendered division of labour related to care. Taking an intersectional perspective to verify the “necessary factors” and “sufficient factors” about the law and the society, we can reflect on the ambiguities that exist with working from home, which reinforces gender stereotypes as an obstacle to achieving equality. (more…)

The right to a fair online trial – Is the pandemic experience of online hearings in court proceedings a sustainable solution for the future?

by Anna Madarasi, judge and a former spokesperson of the Metropolitan Court of Budapest*

[This blog is part of a series on the pandemic. The introduction to the series can be found here.]

Online hearings are on the rise across the world. In a significant number of European countries, the use of online tools in court hearings for civil and criminal law procedures were introduced even before the pandemic, although in different ways and extent. However, the use of online hearings has always been controversial. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the courts almost everywhere in the world started closing doors to physical presence and looked for alternative solutions to move the cases forward. It quickly became obvious that an extension of online hearings was necessary, as judicial breaks and postponements seriously affected the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time. (more…)