Technology Governance And Respect For The Law

In the context of the technological disruption of law and, in particular, the prospect of governance by machines, this book reconsiders the demand that we should respect the law, simply because it is the law. What does ‘the law’ need to look like to justify our respect? Responding to this question, the book takes the form of a dialectic between, on the one side, the promise of the prospectus for law and, on the other, the discontent provoked by the performance of law in practice; this is followed by a synthesis. Four pictures of law are considered: two are traditional pictures – law as order and law as just order; and two are prompted by the technological disruption of law – law as governance by machines and law as self-governance by humans. These pictures are tested in five performance areas: contract law, criminal law, biolaw, information law, and constitutional law. The synthesis, revealing the complexity of the demand for respect, highlights three particular points. First, the only prospectus for law that clearly commands respect is one that is committed to protecting the global commons (the preconditions for humans to form their own communities with their own forms of governance); second, any form of governance by humans will invite reservations and push-back against the demand for respect; and, third, governance by machines is not so much a superior form of governance as a radically different form in which questions about respect are redundant. This book will appeal to scholars and students with interests in the broad and burgeoning field of law, regulation and technology, as well as to legal theorists, practitioners, and others interested in the impact of new technology on law.

This book analyses discontent with law and assesses the prospect of better governance by technology. In the first part of the book, where the context is ‘low tech’, the range of discontent with law is examined; the underlying reasons for such discontent are identified (namely, the human nature of the legal enterprise, its reliance on rules, and the pluralistic nature of human communities); and the reasonableness of such discontent is assessed. In the second part of the book, where the context is ‘high-tech’ (with new tools becoming available to undertake governance functions), the question is whether discontent with law is further provoked or, to the contrary, is eased. While new technologies provoke further discontent with law’s claimed authority, its ineffectiveness, and its principles, positions, and policies, they also promise more effective and efficient ways of achieving order. The book closes with some reflections on the ambivalence that humans might experience when faced with the choice between law’s governance and apparently better performing governance by technology. That law’s governance is imperfect is undeniable; that humans should quest after better governance is right; but, the shape of our technological futures is unclear. This accessibly written book will appeal to scholars and students who are working in the broad and burgeoning field of law, regulation, and technology, as well as to legal theorists, political scientists, and sociologists with interests in the impact of new technology.

This thorough and incisive Research Handbook reconstructs the scholarly discourses surrounding the field of law and technology, discussing the salient legal, governance and societal problems stemming from the use of different technologies, and how they should be treated under various legal frameworks. This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.

This collection examines one of the fastest growing fields of regulation: data rights. The book moves debates about data beyond data and privacy protecting statutes. In doing so, it asks what private law may have to say about these issues and explores how private law may influence the interpretation and the form of legislation dealing with data. Over five parts it: sets out an overview of the themes and problems; explores theoretical justifications and challenges in understanding data; considers data through the perspective of cognate private law doctrines; assesses the contribution of private law in understanding individual rights; and finally examines the potential of private law in providing individual remedies for wrongful data use, supplementing the work of regulators. The contributors are specialists in their respective fields of private law with long-standing expertise in the challenges to data privacy posed by emerging digital technologies.

This book offers a radically different introduction to law, one that reflects the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid technological developments of our time. Traditionally, law has been about historic principles and rules and their application to a particular set of facts; and courts, judges, and disputes have been central to the legal enterprise. Against this approach, this book highlights four radical and revisionist ideas: by bringing modern technologies into the foreground; by presenting law as one particular mode of governance in a larger picture of governance that now includes technological modalities; by insisting that we have to think outside the traditional doctrinal box to engage with a broad range of governance questions; and by emphasising that human communities cannot flourish without good governance to which both lawyers and law are central. These four radical threads are woven into a discussion of the modern landscape of law, and together they offer a distinctly contemporary contribution to the quest for good governance. The challenge for lawyers now, the book maintains, is to contribute to thinking, both locally and globally, about how we take advantage of the opportunities presented by the newest technology, without compromising the essential conditions for human life and co-existence, and without losing what we value in law’s governance. This book is aimed at students who are studying law at university and legal academics, and others, interested in the current and future impact of technology on law.

This insightful book presents a radical rethinking of the relationship between law, regulation, and technology. While in traditional legal thinking technology is neither of particular interest nor concern, this book treats modern technologies as doubly significant, both as major targets for regulation and as potential tools to be used for legal and regulatory purposes. It explores whether our institutions for engaging with new technologies are fit for purpose. Having depicted a legal landscape that includes legal rules and principles, regulatory frameworks, technical measures and technological governance, this thought-provoking book presents further exercises in rethinking. These exercises confront communities with a fundamental question about how they are to be governed--by humans using rules or by technical measures and technological management? Chapters rethink the traditional arguments relating to legality, the rule of law, legitimacy, regulatory practice, dispute resolution, crime and control, and authority and respect for law. Examining the role of lawyers and law schools in an age of governance by smart technologies, Rethinking Law, Regulation, and Technology will be a key resource for students and scholars of law and technology, digital innovation and regulation and the law.

This book deals with questions of democracy and governance relating to new technologies. The deployment and application of new technologies is often accompanied with uncertainty as to their long-term (un)intended impacts. New technologies also raise questions about the limits of the law as the line between harmful and beneficial effects is often difficult to draw. The volume explores overarching concepts on how to regulate new technologies and their implications in a diverse and constantly changing society, as well as the way in which regulation can address differing, and sometimes conflicting, societal objectives, such as public health and the protection of privacy. Contributions focus on a broad range of issues such as Citizen Science, Smart Cities, big data, and health care, but also on the role of market regulation for new technologies.The book will serve as a useful research tool for scholars and practitioners interested in the latest developments in the field of technology regulation. Leonie Reins is Assistant Professor at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT) in The Netherlands.

Technological change is ongoing and holds great influence over society as a whole. This volume focuses on the consequences of such change for government and the legal environment, especially in relation to business.