Several African countries are developing artificial intelligence (AI) strategies and ethics frameworks with the goal of accelerating responsible AI development and adoption. However, many of these governance actions are emerging without consideration for their suitability to local contexts, including whether the proposed policies are feasible to implement and what their impact may be on regulatory outcomes. In response, we suggest that there is a need for more explicit policy learning, by looking at existing governance capabilities and experiences related to algorithms, automation, data, and digital technology in other countries and in adjacent sectors. From such learning, it will be possible to identify where existing capabilities may be adapted or strengthened to address current AI-related opportunities and risks. This paper explores the potential for learning by analysing existing policy and legislation in twelve African countries across three main areas: strategy and multi-stakeholder engagement, human dignity and autonomy, and sector-specific governance. The findings point to a variety of existing capabilities that could be relevant to responsible AI; from existing model management procedures used in banking and air quality assessment to efforts aimed at enhancing public sector skills and transparency around public–private partnerships, and the way in which existing electronic transactions legislation addresses accountability and human oversight. All of these point to the benefit of wider engagement on how existing governance mechanisms are working, and on where AI-specific adjustments or new instruments may be needed.

Uzbekistan's mental health system is undergoing significant reform aimed at improving care and service delivery. This article provides a comprehensive evaluation of the current state of Uzbekistan's mental health system using the WHO 2010 monitoring and evaluation framework. It also details ongoing reforms designed to address systemic issues, enhance mental healthcare and ensure better health outcomes for the population.

Decapod crustaceans, commonly utilised for pure or applied scientific research and commercial food production, have generally remained outside ethical debate. However, in the last decade many parts of the world have seen an increase in public interest in the welfare of decapod crustaceans and statutory legal protection has been introduced in several countries. Although still limited to a small number of countries and remaining relatively unharmonised, relevant legislation could be increasingly broadened to include decapods in further jurisdictions. Much existing legislation, originally intended for protecting terrestrial vertebrates during scientific study, might be unsuitable for aquatic invertebrates such as decapods. Indeed, precedence with many fish species and cephalopods suggests detail is lacking with respect to fundamental guidance. Therefore, similar inclusion of decapods into such legislation could make welfare or scientific goals more challenging to achieve unless relevant guidance is available, particularly to animal care practitioners. This horizon paper aims to summarise existing decapod legislation, and the considerations required should decapods be included in current conceptual frameworks and scientific legislation.

Several disciplines, such as economics, law, and political science, emphasize the importance of legislative quality, namely well-written legislation. Low-quality legislation cannot be easily implemented because the texts create interpretation problems. To measure the quality of legal texts, we use information from the syntactic and lexical features of their language and apply these measures to a dataset of European Union legislation that contains detailed information on its transposition and decision-making process. We find that syntactic complexity and vagueness are negatively related to member states’ compliance with legislation. The finding on vagueness is robust to controlling for member states’ preferences, administrative resources, length of texts, and discretion. However, the results for syntactic complexity are less robust.

We are experiencing the effects of the triple planetary crisis—climate change, loss of nature, and pollution—aggravated by plastic pollution. Despite widespread global awareness of the adverse effects of plastic pollution, its ongoing increase remains persistent, with an annual increase in plastic consumption and incorrect disposal contributing to this serious problem. In 2022, 175 nations agreed to begin negotiations by the end of 2024 on a binding international agreement to control the life cycle of plastics, including preventing marine pollution. To ensure the efficacy of the Global Plastics Treaty for mitigating plastic pollution, the extensive participation of researchers is imperative. The literature focuses on efforts in line with ongoing negotiations. In this study, a systematic review of the Global Plastics Treaty was conducted. The analyzed literature mainly focuses on the adverse effects of plastic pollution, legislation, governance, and the economy. The resulting comprehensive overview of the subject can support ongoing negotiations and guide future research about the Global Plastics Treaty.

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred legal and policy attacks against foundational public health authorities. Act for Public Health — a partnership of public health law organizations — has tracked legislative activity since January 2021. This article describes that activity, highlighting 2023 bills primarily related to vaccine requirements and policy innovations undertaken in the wake of the pandemic. Finally, we preview a legal framework for more equitable and effective public health authority.

A deluge of state “anti-equity” legislative bills seek to reverse prevailing trends in diversity, equity, and inclusion; withdraw protections of LGBTQ+ communities; and deny access to gender-based care for trans minors and adults. While the political and constitutional fate of these acts is undetermined, profound impacts on patients and their providers are already affecting the delivery of health care and public health services.

We explore the changes in central government administration due to European Union (EU) membership and its consequences for policy outcomes and economic efficiency in Finland and Sweden. Both countries became members of the EU in 1995. Upon joining the union, member states are expected to adopt common legislation and are encouraged to develop similar rule-making procedures. The actual implementation of EU directives varies considerably between member states, however. This is also the case for Finland and Sweden. Despite the two Nordic countries for historical reasons having had similar government systems, upon becoming members of the EU, they started to diverge. Using a model of delegation and comparing the more centralized Finnish system with the decentralized institutional setup in Sweden, we show that the Swedish approach leads to a stricter than optimal environmental policy, which in turn makes EU policy non-optimal from a global point of view, ceteris paribus. We also provide empirical support for our findings in the form of some example cases. We focus on environmental policy since this is an area that has been high on the EU agenda.

This article considers, summarises, and analyses the merits of various arguments regarding options for regulating (or not regulating) ‘gig work’, concluding with observations about currently proposed legislation. There is a strong argument for regulating gig work. Many workers are vulnerable, and many of the arguments against any form or regulation – in terms of innovation, productivity, employment, or the inevitability of this trend – lack merit. Current definitions of employment, indeed current labour law, are not adequate and many, but not all, gig workers are like employees in terms of the control exercised over them. However, treating gig workers as employees would encounter several problems. The outcomes would be uncertain. Not all would be covered. Many gig workers would be opposed (despite wanting protection). The gig firms could render such legislation ineffective, or alternatively succeed in mobilising opposition, almost ensuring such legislation would be revoked at the next change of government. Regulating gig work as a form of contracting is a viable alternative. It has the potential to attract support from gig workers themselves, undermining opposition by the gig firms, and attract support from some parts of capital. The New South Wales experience shows us that regulation of gig work as contracting is feasible and politically sustainable. Despite limitations, the ‘Closing the Loopholes’ Bill provides a sustainable model for regulating and protecting many ‘gig economy’ workers. It is time to envisage labour law as something that extends not just to employees but to many contractors as well.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA), in power during 2002–2021, initiated the process of instituting community-based forest governance and building local capacity for natural resource management. These efforts coincided with the presence of international security forces and the mobilization of civil society organizations, and they were in response to community aspirations to protect and restore often degraded local forests. Legislation was passed to enable forest protection and management, including a provision to encourage participatory management by local community user groups organized as Forest Management Associations (FMAs). By the end of the GIRoA era, c. 20 registered FMAs were operating with c. 400 others in various stages of development across Afghanistan. Our analysis of relevant policy documents revealed that the policy framework developed during the GIRoA era scores favourably on the ideal criteria for community-based resource management. Despite the change in political administration with the inception of the current Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan regime, the influence of the GIRoA era serves as a starting point and may have enduring influences on rural communities in Afghanistan and the natural resources that support them. Anecdotal evidence suggests that community-based forest management may persist under the current national leadership despite international isolation and funding constraints. The model developed in Afghanistan may be relevant to other fragile states, especially in contexts where rural forest-dependent communities have strong local institutions, such as shuras, and where forests are not prone to heavy extraction pressure.