Volume 9, Issue 2

Amid rapid technological advancements in the contemporary digital landscape, the integrity of data management significantly influences organizational trustworthiness. Compliance with ethical norms and concepts is critical for maintaining confidentiality in language and speech technologies, emphasizing ethical considerations in the collection and use of personal data. Building trust in new technologies, including language and speech technologies, requires timely and responsible handling of personal data. This study aims to evaluate the ethical norms and associated risks involved in the process of collecting personal data. It includes an examination of core ethical principles, such as consent, transparency, fairness, and accountability, and how compliance with these principles can be ensured. The research employs a mixed methodology, incorporating literature review and ethical analysis. Ethical considerations are a significant part of the development and deployment of language and speech technologies. This includes respecting user privacy and transparency, eliminating algorithmic bias to enhance trust, and encouraging responsible innovation. Additionally, adherence to regulations such as the GDPR and CCPA is essential for protecting user rights. This study provides an overview of the ethical benefits and decisions associated with data management practices within speech technologies. It highlights the relevance of ethical principles in the development of language and speech technologies. By recognizing the importance of confidentiality, responsibility, and justice, this approach fosters trust and contributes to the responsible development and proper use of these transformative technologies. The findings emphasize the need for further research, regulatory supervision, and proactive ethical practices to navigate the digital era.

This paper delves into the complex issue of the right to die with dignity, focusing on assisted dying practices within the legal frameworks of Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It examines the emerging challenges and contradictions that this right presents, especially in relation to the fundamental right to life. Highlighting the nuanced interplay between self-determination and the sanctity of life, the study delineates the ethical, medical, and cultural hurdles associated with euthanasia and assisted suicide. It underscores the necessity for legal systems to remain flexible and adaptable, bridging the gap between static legal texts and dynamic real-world applications. This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive analysis of how both countries manage the delicate balance between protecting human dignity and navigating the ethical complexities of assisted dying.

A significant portion of the misunderstanding surrounding China’s human rights protection stems from a failure to consider its legal progress in light of China’s unique cultural, ideological, and political contexts. The Criminal Procedure Law of China is closely linked to constitutional principles and the fundamental first generation of human rights, providing a clear framework for understanding China’s efforts in human rights protection. As widely accepted standards for human rights codification, Articles 9, 17, and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) outline the right to personal liberty, privacy, and the defense of the accused. Initially, China’s Criminal Procedure Law of 1979 fell short of meeting these global standards. However, with substantial revisions in 1996, 2012, and 2018, this specific code has progressively aligned with the covenant’s requirements, marking significant strides in human rights protection in China. Despite these advances, there remains room for improving the Criminal Procedure Law, especially under the challenges of the digital age. China, alongside other nations, will focus on building a more comprehensive, robust, and globally integrated legal framework to address the forthcoming issues.

This study uses an interactional pragmatic approach to examine impoliteness in Turkish High Criminal Court proceedings, offering an alternative perspective compared to the Anglo-American contexts typically explored in legal discourse research. Grounded in (Culpeper, Jonathan. 1996. Towards an anatomy of impoliteness. Journal of Pragmatics 25. 349–367.) impoliteness super strategies, the analysis draws from 45-min audio recordings of seven criminal trials, focusing on impoliteness during the examination-in-chief. The findings reveal a significant register clash, especially from a defendant who deviates from formal legal norms through misalignment, mock impoliteness, threats, and profanity. This disruption challenges courtroom decorum, affects power dynamics, and influences trial progression and interaction, underscoring the complex interplay between institutional authority and individual behavior, which shapes overall (im)politeness in the courtroom.

The rise of short video platforms has fundamentally altered the balance between freedom of expression and copyright protection, challenging traditional legal frameworks like the Safe Harbor Principle. This paper critically examines the evolving legal landscape, with particular focus on the implications of Article 17 of the EU’s Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive), especially for small platforms, creators, and users. Through comparative analysis of international legal frameworks and case studies, the study delves into the challenges faced by stakeholders in navigating platform liability, algorithmic content moderation, and user rights. The research highlights how the existing legal environment, while aiming to protect copyright holders, often disproportionately favors large platforms, undermining the expressive freedoms and fair use rights of smaller creators and users. Furthermore, the paper addresses the role of remix culture on short video platforms, discussing how transformative works and user-generated content foster cultural diversity and innovation. It advocates for reforms that balance copyright enforcement with freedom of expression, promoting cooperative licensing models, nuanced content moderation, and expanded fair use exemptions to support a more equitable digital ecosystem where creativity, access, and protection coexist effectively.

The desire to translate mental images into tangible forms has been intrinsic to human civilisation since its inception and has evolved through various mediums. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) image generators has complicated the relationship between creative ideas and their expression, introducing a third-party intermediary labelled “AI” that blurs traditional distinctions between creator and tool. Legal decisions on whether AI-generated outputs merit copyright protection have rekindled discussions on originality, with courts grappling over the threshold of creativity required for protection. Initial rulings have taken divergent paths; some disconnect human creativity from AI output, while others acknowledge AI’s potential for novel creative expression, as exemplified by the Li v Liu decision in the Beijing Internet Court. This article contextualises and analyses this decision, sparking broader debates on the interplay between human creativity and AI, the arguments of incentive and justice, and the necessity of re-evaluating copyright frameworks to accommodate AI’s role. It proposes a nuanced understanding of collaboration that recognises AI’s contributions, allowing for distinctions between levels of human creativity and forms of artistic expression.

Unveiling public ideologies and values patterns in legal academic discourse, stance serves not only as an effective method for writers to convey their legal values and knowledge, but also as a crucial reference for readers to perceive legal academic texts. This study employs a corpus-based analysis to examine stance expressions in legal academic discourse. Utilizing three self-compiled corpora that encompass articles from the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, Artificial Intelligence and Law, and Regulation & Governance, Hyland’s stance analysis framework is applied to conduct a comparative analysis of hedges, boosters, attitude markers, and self-mentions across the journals. This study reveals the nature of cautiousness and emphasis on the value of legal academic discourse, as well as writing values and disciplinary themes articulated within varied contexts. This research addresses a gap in stance analysis concerning legal academic writing, offering valuable insights for both writers and readers in understanding and shaping public perceptions of legal knowledge.

China’s role in the international maritime transport industry is undeniably growing: the country has become the second-largest ship-owning nation, its maritime ports are ranked among the top globally, and its national maritime transport company, COSCO Group, is ranked 4th among major shipping companies. However, its current legal framework is behind the commercial practices of the maritime transport industry and its operators. With both the evolution of China’s position on the global stage and the emergence of new judicial maritime practices, a revision was inevitable, particularly as China aims to build itself into a maritime power. Although the revision of the Maritime Law was included in the 13th National People’s Congress agenda for the period from 2018 to 2023, the revised Law has not yet been promulgated but is expected in near future. While the reform project focuses solely on the Chinese Maritime Law, China’s new ambitions could turn this moment into an opportunity to overhaul and rethink the role of Chinese maritime law in the current global context. Whether by modernizing its maritime law while maintaining its existing structure, or by rethinking its entire approach, China should consider the legal experience of current maritime powers, such as France, which could serve as a valuable source of inspiration for Chinese legislature in the future.

Over the past decade, there has been increasing interest in the blue carbon project, which uses marine activities and organisms to take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in ocean. Important question in contemporary and future fisheries management is how to coordinate the relationship among the offshore fishery, the fisheries resource conservation and blue carbon projects. Through comparative studies and normative analysis, this study explores the legislative aims of some representative international and national fisheries legislation and their creative reforms in recent years. The legislative purpose of fisheries laws has traditionally been to keep fishery resources above the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) standard, while marine carbon sink resource protection is marginally inadequate. Given that the blue carbon project is inseparable from future fisheries industry development, the protection of marine carbon sink resources needs to be incorporated into the legislative aim of fisheries law in the future.