This chapter will delve into the relationship between intellectual property (IP) and human-computer interaction (HCI), examining how intellectual property rights and limitations influence the design process, drive technological progress, and shape user experiences.The chapter provides detailed discussions of the three main types of IP providing recognition and/or financial benefit for what people invent or create: patent, copyright, and trademark.

Based on international standards, the EU Directive on Working Time, implemented in the Working Time Regulations, places limits on the working week, mandates rest periods each day and each week, and provides for paid annual leave. These rights are subject to various exclusions for certain types of employment, permit some opt-outs by terms in the contract of employment, and also permit collective agreements to modify the rights. The chapter considers these various matters, and concludes by examining the weak remedies provided by health and safety inspectors and some civil claims.

EU law has developed mandatory requirements for employers to inform and consult employee representatives. These various provisions remain in force in British law post-Brexit, though Brexit will clearly have implications for their future development. In this chapter, we consider information and consultation obligations relating to collective redundancies, as well as the more wide ranging provisions in the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004, and the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999, as amended in 2010.

The common law permits employers to fix the wages payable under the contract of employment and also upholds a broad principle of no work–no pay. Statute protects employees against deductions from their wages that are not authorised by the terms of their contract. Subject to the express terms of the contract, in some circumstances employers may be under a duty to provide work so that employees can earn a living. These rules embrace a principle of mutuality that protects the expectation of the employer that work will be performed and of the employee that work will be remunerated. The National Minimum Wage sets a floor on wages for all workers. The chapter describes the method of assessing whether the minimum wage is paid in various kinds of jobs. It concludes by assessing the various types of enforcement mechanisms, including HMRC inspectors, penalties and civil claims, and assesses the effectiveness of the law.

This chapter investigates moderating factors such as trust-related mechanisms, norms, and institutions, and their ability to explain the relationship between intrinsic motivation and compliance, which is free of regulatory coercion.

Dark patterns are the subject of a surge of regulatory interest in the EU. Much new legislation in the areas of consumer law, data protection and competition law include provisions on dark patterns. Businesses use dark patterns to increase their revenue at the expense of consumers who purchase products they may not need, spend more time or give up more personal data than they would otherwise. Instead of focusing on the more normative issue of when dark patterns should be considered harmful, the chapter compares the different legal frameworks applicable to these practices and asks to what extent the increasingly fragmented EU regulatory landscape can offer effective overall protection against dark patterns. While useful complementarities may arise when parallel sets of rules target different concerns or protect different values, there are also risks of inconsistencies that may lead to either under- or overenforcement due to the fragmentation of the overall regulatory framework. The chapter submits that three needs result from the state of play and offers suggestions to improve the enforcement against dark patterns based on the current EU regulatory framework.

Chapter 2 explores the constitutive elements of global environmental governance. International environmental governance works when states fulfill the commitments they undertake under international law, such as the obligation to exchange information on transboundary environmental risks and impacts and the duty to notify and consult with other states with regard to such risks and impacts. Mechanisms of global environmental governance include also environmental impact assessments and strategic impact assessments. The chapter examines, furthermore, how the monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) of compliance with international environmental obligations has been modernized by the wide application of technologies. It explores whether green democracy has become a universal aspirational principle, and how the system for the protection of human rights has been used as a tool for the protection of the environment, lending support to the emergence of a right to a healthy environment. Whether nature, as a legal entity, should be accorded rights and have a say on the development plans of states is also analyzed.

This chapter discusses the broad concept of a market and financial markets. It then delves into the markets for shares (securities) and derivatives. Important actors in the financial markets are highlighted, such as the market operators (the ASX), intermediaries (such as stockbrokers), investors and the largest and most powerful of corporations—listed companies. The regulation of financial markets in chs 6CA and 7 of the Corporations Act is examined, beginning with the definitions of financial products (securities and derivatives). The licensing and supervision of financial markets is then considered: first, the licensing of markets themselves and their supervision through a system of rules—the Market Integrity Rules, the Operating Rules, and the Listing Rules.

This chapter then examines the interplay between certain listing rules and ch 6CA which requires disclosure by listed companies of material information to the market. We then consider the regulation of market misconduct under pt 7.10 of the Corporations Act. Finally, this chapter considers the public and private enforcement of the aforementioned obligations.

Corporate law, like all law, has a context; indeed, it has many contexts. To understand corporate law today, we need to appreciate the forces—social, political, economic, global and local— which shape that law. Modern corporations and contemporary Australian corporate law should be understood as a product of, and a compromise between, various social, economic and legal ideas and philosophies. This is the focus of the first two chapters of this book.

In this chapter, we ask the reader to temporarily postpone the quest for a more detailed explanation of the legal concepts that are introduced. We will come back to examine these concepts in detail elsewhere in the book.

Chapter 8 turns to a paired comparison of secondhand smoke prevention policies, which offer a more optimistic picture of sociolegal change. In addition to more nonsmoking rules, changing social norms and declining smoking rates were conducive to realizing reforms—and benefited from them. This chapter details the contributions of tobacco control advocates through lobbying, educational activities, and lawsuits related to secondhand smoke, especially in workplaces and at subnational levels. Their multi sited activism is a necessary part of understanding why one is now much less likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke in Korea and Japan.

This chapter considers the various means and methods for the peaceful settlement of international disputes as envisaged under the UN Charter and associated mechanisms. The key provisions of the UN Charter are considered, followed by an assessment of various methods of dispute settlement: negotiation, enquiry, mediation and conciliation, arbitration and adjudication. Given its significance to international law, particular attention is given to the ICJ and its jurisdiction in contentious cases and to deliver advisory opinions. The relationship between the ICJ and the Security Council is assessed, as are trends in dispute settlement.

This chapter considers examples of State enforcement of international law, including in cases of war crimes and genocide. It then assesses collective enforcement under mechanisms provided for in the UN Charter, giving particular consideration to UN sanctions, including Australian law and policy approaches giving effect to sanctions, and peacekeeping.

The chapter outlines the requirements for creating a valid pledge, including the necessity of an agreement and the transfer of possession.

The chapter then explores the concept of a lien, which grants a creditor the right to retain possession of a debtor’s property until the debt is satisfied. It explains the conditions under which liens arise, typically through the provision of services or materials that enhance the value of the property.

A significant portion of the chapter is dedicated to discussing the priority of claims. It explains how pledges and liens interact with other security interests and the legal rules that determine the priority of creditors’ claims. The chapter also details the enforcement mechanisms available to creditors, including the sale of the pledged or liened property and the distribution of proceeds.

By analyzing these aspects, the chapter provides a thorough understanding of the legal intricacies of pledges and liens, emphasizing their practical implications for securing and enforcing debts in China.

This title delves into the mechanisms and processes of international human rights litigation, focusing on the various judicial and quasi-judicial bodies that adjudicate human rights complaints. It examines the diversity of international complaints mechanisms, including regional human rights courts, such as the European Court of Human Rights, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as nonjudicial bodies such as the Human Rights Committee and other treaty bodies. The section discusses the conditions of admissibility for international complaints, the procedures for examining claims, and the standards of proof and evidence. It also explores the role of provisional measures in protecting human rights during litigation and the challenges in enforcing international human rights decisions. By providing insights into the litigation process, this title highlights the importance of access to justice and the role of international bodies in holding states accountable for human rights violations.