Frontiers in Law

The Implementation of Sustainable Development to Achieve Climate Justice: Indonesian Perspective as an Archipelagic State

Sri Wartini — 2024-02-14

Climate change causes serious impacts to the environment and to human beings. The impacts of climate change cannot be overcome by a single state, but it needs international cooperation. Each state has to act locally to participate in combating climate change in order to achieve climate justice. The research aims to analyze comprehensively the implementation of sustainable development to achieve climate justice Indonesian Perspective as an Archipelagic State. This study is a normative juridical research by applying conceptual and statutory approaches. The result of the research found that the policies strategies and efforts of Indonesian government to participate in achieving climate justice in the global spere still needs to be improved. However, there are some opportunities and challenges that have to be addressed. Thus, it is necessary to educate and to improve the public awareness to participate in the efforts of implementing sustainable development principle to achieve climate justice.

Local Self-Governance and State Power in the Russian Federation: In the Search for a Way Out of the Institutional Trap

Mikhail Yurievich Martynov — 2024-03-20

The subject of the study is the causes of the contradiction that have arisen in the legal and political field of modern Russia, related to the status of the institution of local self-government. On the one hand, local self-government, in fact, acts as a lower level of public administration, both in political practice and in mass consciousness. But legally, its bodies are not part of the system of state power. The author explains this situation by the institutional trap into which the state power has fallen.

The author sees the reasons for the emergence of this collision between the needs of political practice and legislative requirements in the coincidence of circumstances caused by the struggle of actors during the political confrontation between the legislative and executive powers in October 1993. The lack of socio-economic support, necessary for the full functioning of the institution, made it inevi that in the future that institution would turn into a "lower floor" of the system of state administration, with the simultaneous camouflaging municipal bodies as a non-governmental organization.

It is shown that throughout the entire subsequent history of local self-government existence attempts were made to resolve this contradiction. The latest attempt was made in the latest version of the Constitution of the Russian Federation by including state and local self-government bodies into the system of unified public power.

It is noted that the functioning of nominally self-governing, but basically - state bodies at the local level has a number of negative consequences. Organizational and legal ways out of the "institutional trap" are suggested.

The Doctrine of Excessive Formalism in the Legal Theory and Practice of the European Court of Human Rights

Oksana Shcherbaniuk — 2024-03-20

As a means of organising certain existing disputes and resolving conflicts within society, it has made the institution of procedural formalities necessary since the beginning of history. The existence of formalities in a proceeding, whether judicial or extrajudicial, serves to limit certain situations in the course of the process. It is well known that there are several principles that regulate the formalities of procedure, mainly by establishing procedural limits. These reason values are thus aimed at achieving the principles of purpose. The methodological basis of the article is the dialectical method of cognition based on materialistic dialectic with the use of such general scientific methods as analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, abstraction, specification, analogy, hypothesis building method, and the system-structural method. The study has resulted in the identification of cases of excessive formalism by courts when applying the rules of procedural law. The practical significance of the results obtained is to prevent such mistakes by law enforcement authorities in the future. As a result of writing this article, the author has established that the main manifestations of excessive formalism are the creation by the court of procedural obstacles to the implementation of procedural rules by the parties to the case, strict interpretation by national legislation of the procedural rules, and return of an administrative claim on formal grounds. It is proved that excessive formalism in resolving the issue of acceptance of a statement of claim leads to a violation of the right to fair judicial protection.

Judges and Social Networks

Carlos Manuel Rosales — 2024-03-20

It is essential that the judicial function be public, discreet, and professional. Its legitimacy as a public authority is acquired through the recognition of judgments, in which there is an identification between decisions and society. But what type of communication must be made by the judiciary, and especially by judges, to provide information about their activities, and ensure that their interaction strengthens the republic, generating proximity between the sovereign and the public power.

Algorithmic Decision Making: Can Artificial Intelligence and the Metaverse Provide Technological Solutions to Modernise the United Kingdom’s Legal Services and Criminal Justice?

C. Singh — 2024-05-15

Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have had a profound impact on various sectors including Banking (Fin Tech), Health (HealthTech) and Charitable Fundraising (Charity Tech). The ‘natural’ ability of an AI system to independently perform and, often, outthink its human-counter parts by developing ‘intelligence’(simulating human intelligence) through its own experiences and processing deep layers of information i.e., complex representations of data, and learn has resulted in astounding improvements in the completion of tasks that are complex and technical, time-consuming.AI, with the ease of working with the most granular level of detail, can identify people and objects, recognise voices, uncover patterns and, in advance, screen for problems. Yet, RegTech (or LawTech/LegalTech) has not seen the same level of advancement. AI can provide solutions and enormous economic, political, and social benefits – in terms of public service administration. The purpose of this article is to explore advents in AI (ML and DL) and whether the criminal justice system, in the United Kingdom (UK), which is heavily overburdened, could benefit from some of the advances that have taken place in other sectors and jurisdictions, and whether automation and algorithmic decision making could be used to modernise it. This research draws on domestic and international published law, regulation, and literature, and isset out in six parts, the first partre views the position of the criminal justice system i.e., issues, part two then looks at relative technological advancements in AI, and the Metaverse. Part three explores current advents in AI relating to RegTech (LawTech/LegalTech) and how, if at all, the CJS can use this technology. Part four explores what aspects of the U.K.’s CJS would be fit for automation. Part five focuses on those matters pertaining to AI that pose problems in relation to matters in part 4 i.e., AI discrimination and bias, and explores safeguarding and mitigation including the requirement for explanation as set out in the GDPR. Part six concludes the discussion with some recommendations, as at, January 2024. It is suggested that AI and algorithmic decision making, with the correct legal framework and safeguards in place, could assist in modernising the CJS focussed legal functions, services in law firms, innovating for the next decade. This work is original and timely given the increased debate relating to how AI can assist in modernising the U.K.’s CJS, the global criminal justice challenges, solutions, and what, if any, role the Metaverse can play.