This article analyses the emotion work of commercial mediators, a category of legal professionals whose emotions have received scant attention in previous socio-legal research. To date, the law and emotion literature has extensively examined emotions in criminal proceedings, looking particularly at the emotions of judges, jurors, prosecutors, and lawyers. Far less is known about emotions in commercial dispute resolution, where conflicts are often assumed to be governed by emotionless rational calculation. Drawing on observations of commercial mediations and interviews with commercial mediators in Italy, the article shows different dimensions of mediators’ emotion work: navigating epistemic emotions, such as gut feelings and fear, managing professional identities, performing impartiality, and calibrating empathy. It further demonstrates how mediators instil feelings of hope and doubt in the parties to sustain engagement and loosen certainty. In this way, the article contributes to socio-legal scholarship on emotions in legal professions, dispute resolution, and economic conflicts.
This work examines the European Union (EU)’s contribution to the transition towards more sustainable cruise tourism. Against the backdrop of the sector’s continued expansion and the growing concerns surrounding its environmental and social impacts, it analyses how the EU is influencing the sustainability of cruise activities. The work first outlines the EU’s general framework for addressing the sustainability of cruise tourism, identifying the Union’s competences and the main sustainability frameworks of its regulatory approach. It then addresses EU action in practice, focusing on two key areas of intervention: the decarbonisation of maritime transport and the protection of working conditions on ships. Building on this analysis, the article critically evaluates the extent to which the current EU approach can deliver genuinely sustainable cruise tourism. It argues that, despite important regulatory advances, the existing framework is fragmented and insufficiently tailored to the specific challenges posed by the cruise sector. The work concludes by advocating the development of a dedicated EU policy in this field capable of reconciling environmental, social and economic objectives within a comprehensive vision of sustainable cruise tourism.
La irrupción de la inteligencia artificial generativa ha supuesto un nuevo reto para el Derecho penal. Si bien la comisión de delitos mediante herramientas tecnológicas no es un fenómeno novedoso, sí lo son la facilidad de acceso a las mismas y su capacidad para generar contenido con una apariencia de realidad prácticamente absoluta. En el caso de las denominadas deepfakes o ultrasuplantaciones de carácter sexual no consentidas, su proliferación se ha extendido de manera exponencial en los últimos tres años. Este fenómeno afecta de forma desmedida a las mujeres, operando como un reflejo online de las estructuras patriarcales de dominación y subordinación presentes en el mundo offline. La cosificación de las mujeres y la mercantilización de sus cuerpos mediante la generación de estos contenidos se analiza aquí como un delito de trato degradante previsto en el artículo 173.1 del Código penal español. No obstante, el estudio también aborda otras líneas doctrinales que proponen la subsunción de estos ataques en los delitos contra el honor, la propia imagen o la intimidad.
La descarbonización para alcanzar la neutralidad climática en 2050 requiere diversas soluciones tecnológicas, donde los combustibles renovables constituyen una pieza necesaria, especialmente en sectores difícilmente electrificables directamente. La regulación y el desarrollo tecnológico son imprescindibles para reducir costes y fomentar el mercado de combustibles renovables. Sin embargo, la regulación puede incluir elementos que supongan barreras para las inversiones en combustibles renovables. Este artículo, a partir de un proceso de investigación cualitativa que combina la revisión de diversas fuentes bibliográficas y las aportaciones de un grupo de debate, presenta el contexto regulatorio en Europa y en España. A continuación, se presentan y analizan tres cuestiones genéricas (neutralidad tecnológica, flexibilidad normativa y cooperación regulatoria) y cuatro específicas de la regulación de los combustibles renovables (criterios de sostenibilidad, sunset clause del CO2 renovable, infraestructura e incentivos públicos), claves para su desarrollo. El documento concluye con una síntesis de las principales conclusiones.
The primary focus of gender just transition has been on the nature of work. But what is the role, if any, of law in this process? This article explores an under examined legal concept, the standard of review, through the lens of the landmark judgment, KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz v Switzerland, from the European Court of Human Rights. It argues the Court’s innovative with respect to the standard of review, creating an interrogative and deferential standard, is conceptually confusing and ill-suited to gender justice transitions. This approach alleviates male living patterns from scrutiny and continues to perpetuate women’s exclusion from the constitutional structure of the state. Drawing on feminist jurisprudence from a range of apex and regional courts as well as the empirical evidence on the impacts of climate change, it argues that courts should always calibrate the standard of review to intensely scrutinise when gender justice transition is the crux of the case.
The practice of remote court proceedings, which accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, has become a permanent feature in criminal courts. However, questions remain as to how they may impact the interaction, participation and dynamics among legal professionals (judges, prosecutors, and lawyers) when communicating and interacting with parties in a manner that fulfils their obligation to ensure procedural justice. This paper presents a recent study examining how legal practitioners experience remote criminal proceedings in three EU countries (the Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden). Altogether, 37 judges, prosecutors and lawyers were interviewed on how hearing parties remotely affect courtroom communication. The study is part of a larger research project that also included questionnaire studies and courtroom observations. This article provides an in-depth analysis of legal professionals’ experiences, as well as the perceived benefits and pitfalls in remote courtroom communication, and offers recommendations for court professionals, drawing also on the broader data set.
The Brazilian social security system, as part of an anti-Black structure, perpetuates racialized exclusion through its socio-legislative processes. By analyzing the regulation of labor temporalities, judicial interpretations, and the landmark case of Fazenda Brasil Verde v. Brazil, this study examines how Black people’s access to social security is systematically hindered. The article develops the concept of ontological labor, defined as the work of existing within anti-Black structures, and applies it to the field of social security to challenge current institutional frameworks. It concludes that while Social Security Law has transformative potential, persistent colonial structures and social death logics produce a system that maintains racial disparity. The study proposes three concrete legal mechanisms for reform: a constitutional amendment to classify racism as a social risk under Article 201, automatic contributory amnesty for victims of slave-like labor, and the formal recognition of non-documentary evidence for periods of structural informality.
This article reconceptualizes climate change in Pakistan not merely as an environmental issue but as a profound challenge to state authority, citizenship, and political belonging. It addresses the gap between Pakistan’s extensive climate policy framework and the state’s limited capacity to protect vulnerable populations due to fragmented governance, weak enforcement, and the absence of a rights-based approach. Using doctrinal legal analysis, policy review, institutional mapping, and interviews with key informants, the study examines the interaction between constitutional provisions, environmental laws, disaster management regimes, and social protection systems. The findings show that climate-induced displacement, resource insecurity, and livelihood disruption are generating new forms of precarious citizenship largely unrecognized within Pakistan’s legal and administrative structure. The article argues that effective climate resilience requires institutional reform and constitutional recognition of climate-vulnerable populations as full political subjects, contributing to global debates on climate change, rights, and state-society relations in the Global South more broadly.
La reproducción cultural en las comunidades afrodescendientes es esencial para su pervivencia. Sin embargo, el acceso a la justicia y la garantía de sus derechos fundamentales dependen, en gran medida, de la capacidad del Estado para reconocer y valorar adecuadamente la existencia y las necesidades de estas comunidades. Este estudio se enfoca en analizar cómo los resultados censales de 2005 y 2018, proporcionados por el DANE, aún muestran una desconexión significativa con la realidad al momento de establecer la población afrodescendiente en Colombia. Esta desconexión no solo compromete la correcta materialización de derechos fundamentales, como la diversidad cultural, sino que también limita la implementación de medidas eficaces para la construcción de paz y justicia en territorios clave, como la región del Norte del Cauca. La falta de datos precisos y actualizados afecta directamente el acceso a la justicia, pues dificulta responder a las necesidades reales de estas comunidades. Sin un reconocimiento adecuado, se perpetúan desigualdades estructurales que obstaculizan el desarrollo y la construcción de espacios de convivencia en el territorio.
Since 2022, the war against Ukraine has become a central pillar of the Russian political system, arising from the country’s societal evolution in the post-Soviet period. A primary challenge during this era has been a recurring crisis of legitimacy. This paper argues that the recolonization war against Ukraine has served as a tool for the domestic legitimation of the established system. Utilizing data from Levada-Centr and OVD-INFO, the paper examines the role of warfare in system legitimation. It explores the social mechanisms by which Russia’s external aggression helps mitigate domestic social tensions accumulated within its dysfunctional socioeconomic and authoritarian political system, providing this system with a “war dividend”. Time series analysis reveals that the full-scale war against Ukraine has allowed Russian authorities to shift toward a new, higher level of system legitimacy, representing a new, relatively stable long-run equilibrium. Contrary to the author’s initial hypothesis, low-intensity war generally exhibited a delegitimizing effect, with no statistical evidence of a new stable equilibrium in that instance. Furthermore, the state of peace had no statistically significant influence on system legitimacy.
Language serves as a vital conduit through which culture, emotion, and social meaning are conveyed, particularly in judicial contexts where witness testimonies shape the factual record. This study systematically examines the use of coded language and euphemisms in eyewitness testimonies before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Drawing on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of 64 trial transcripts across 16 cases, we investigate the prevalence of culturally embedded linguistic forms and assess their distribution by witness type. Contrary to prior anecdotal expectations, we found that coded language and euphemisms were used much less frequently during trials than anticipated, with expert witnesses, rather than crime-base witnesses, accounting for the majority of instances. This research contributes to a growing literature on language, law, and culture in post-conflict justice settings. Our findings highlight how linguistic choices can impact evidentiary clarity. They underscore the importance of cultural sensitivity in international trials and suggest avenues for improving interpretation practices.
This study explores how older people receiving home care in Finland access their rights through relations at the micro, meso, and macro levels. Drawing on a mixed-methods design combining survey data and qualitative interviews collected among older adults receiving home care services, it examines how legal entitlements are shaped and mediated by interpersonal, institutional, and societal relationships. While many older adults report adequate care, a notable minority experience unmet needs, limited influence over their care, and social isolation. At the micro level, family members often help older people navigate services, reflecting both expectations of familial support and gaps in formal provision. Those without close ties are particularly vulnerable. At the meso level, encounters with professionals vary, with time pressures and staff shortages limiting opportunities for respectful, person centred interaction. At the macro level, societal views on ageing and available opportunities for participation shape older adults’ sense of belonging. Overall, access to rights in home care is relational, requiring supportive policies, sufficient resources, and everyday practices that foster stable, respectful relationships.
The precept of personalization has a unique historical and functional resonance, finding a fertile relational source across various legal domains. In an original manner, we have highlighted that this precept, through its synergistic dimension, brings about a welcome limitation within the generic notion of administrative liability, by conceptualizing certain requirements that are not only semantic in nature but also of profound factual relevance, inherent in the proper calibration of a just mechanism for engaging the legal liability of those at fault. Proportionality constitutes an inevitable dimension of the principle of legality, acting as a factor that facilitates the highlighting of the practical dimension of the issue, through the delineation of instruments that ensure equitable justice—namely, by calibrating, through an integrated and applied analysis, the means of shaping the administrative offense process so as to meet the demands for adaptability of repression in response to the social challenges of the modern world. We have proposed models of legal interpretation and formulated suggestions for improving the operational legal system, aimed at conferring flexibility and adaptability upon the act of administering justice.
Este artículo aborda el impacto de la gobernanza transfronteriza en la configuración territorial de las regiones que toman parte en la misma. Partiendo de la literatura sobre el tema, se configura una tipología de tres modelos de gobernanza transfronteriza, con sus respectivos efectos principales: territorializar, desterritorializar y reterritorializar. Se aplicará esta tipología a la colaboración transfronteriza entre las regiones de Nueva Aquitania, Euskadi y Navarra, centrándonos en dos mecanismos a través de los que se ha desarrollado: la Eurorregión que lleva sus nombres y la Área Funcional Oeste (AFOMEF). La aplicación de este modelo se desarrollará a través de una metodología cualitativa, basada principalmente en el análisis documental de la normativa que regula ambos dispositivos. Los resultados mostrarán el carácter eminentemente funcional de ambos, si bien su dimensión simbólica también los convierte en “herramientas blandas” de cara a la reconfiguración de los territorios implicados.
This study rests on a critical analysis of the key objectives and significance of alternatives to imprisonment at both the international and Kazakh legal levels. The study explores the available evidence on the effectiveness of alternatives to imprisonment. The exploration of this topic is indispensable for the formulation of a comprehensive, ethical, and economically sustainable criminal justice framework that aligns with international norms and takes into account the unique characteristics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Such an endeavor would contribute to the refinement of law enforcement procedures and the overall enhancement of the legal system.
International criminal trials confront many impediments to accurate fact-finding. Some impediments stem from cultural divergences between witnesses, who often hail from the Global South, and courtroom personnel, many of whom hail from the West. Courtroom personnel developed strategies to address these cultural divergences while legal psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists have also focused on these issues. Indeed, academics and researchers have lately generated a wide body of literature that interrogates, explores, and explains divergences between different cultural groups. This sophisticated research is welcome, and many scholars recommend continued study to further elucidate and to gain greater understanding of the cultural components of witness testimony in ICL trials. At the same time, changes in the evidentiary profile of many mass atrocity trials have made witness testimony less influential and could make cultural understanding concomitantly less significant. This study however recommends continued focus on cultural competence as a means of increasing the accuracy and legitimacy of mass atrocity verdicts.
Fee waivers constitute a fundamental mechanism for removing economic barriers to civil justice, yet empirical evidence on their effectiveness remains scarce in Latin America. This study provides the first systematic empirical assessment of the privilegio de pobreza (poverty privilege) in Chilean civil procedure. Using a mixed-methods design, we analyzed 326 case files from 99 first-instance courts (2020-2024) and conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with judges, attorneys, and users. Our findings reveal a paradox: while the formal grant rate reaches 100%, practical effectiveness is undermined by implementation gaps. In 11.7% of cases, court auxiliaries charged fees despite judicial authorization. Median time for executing procedural acts (23 days) substantially exceeded time for granting the benefit (7 days). Qualitative data identified three gap dimensions: implementation failures by court auxiliaries, lack of uniformity across public institutions, and information asymmetries. These findings suggest that fee waivers operate as incomplete guarantees requiring complementary institutional reforms
El artículo analiza las reformas laborales en Argentina y México como expresiones de proyectos políticos antes que como meros procesos técnicos de modernización jurídica. En el caso argentino, se reconstruye un recorrido desde las reformas regresivas de la dictadura y el neoliberalismo de los años noventa hasta la reforma progresiva de 2004. Este proceso se revierte con los intentos flexibilizadores del gobierno de Macri y se profundizó con las reformas impulsadas por el gobierno de Milei, que configuran un programa sistemático de debilitamiento de garantías laborales. El caso mexicano muestra una trayectoria inversa, desde la reforma regresiva de 2012, hacia las reformas de 2017 y 2019, que introducen un nuevo sistema de justicia laboral y promueven la democratización sindical, en consonancia con los estándares internacionales. El análisis concluye que las reformas laborales constituyen un campo central de disputa política, donde se redefine el sentido del trabajo y su función social.
MacCormick made an important contribution to Jurisprudence and Sociology of Law through his distinction between the norm-giver and the norm-user perspectives. Norm-givers and norm users, in his scheme, are in the same political community, in distinct communities with distinct institutions: users and givers share the same jurisdiction. But there are special cases of norm-users that are carrying out their ordinary lives in different communities. We can call them cross-border people. They live one part of their lives in one community and another part of their lives in another community, and both are bordering, and often share some features besides territorial continuity. As norm users they can belong to two different communities of norm users. As citizens, they can belong to two different demoi at the same time. We shall be applying these considerations to the Basque border regions to ask whether cross-border relationships are generating a new type of cross-border citizenship.
Climate change is both a consequence and a cause of inequality. Deep system recalibration is needed to repair the harms that the dominant economic system has inflicted on humans and the non-human world. This includes rethinking our legal frameworks and the way we address equality in law. The article draws on ecofeminist and Indigenous ideas of human/non-human relationality to consider how new equality frameworks might reorient the law in service of social and ecological transformation. It looks to the concept of regeneration to inform how we expand: the subject of the equality inquiry beyond the human; our conception of the harms being addressed through equality law; and the nature of the remedies we are seeking. It illustrates this reconceptualisation of equality law through two examples. The article is an invitation to others to begin to decentre humans in our legal conceptions and consider how to repurpose equality law towards regeneration.
