Dan Jerker B. Svantesson

On the Law of War and Peace

There are some books that most people know of, many think they understand, but few have actually read. Hugo Grotius’ On the Law of War and Peace is such a book, and I have had the privilege of reviewing Stephen C Neff’s ‘version’ of that book. I say version because, (1) the original book was issued in four different versions (first edition published in 1625 and fourth edition published in 1642) and unlike the original versions, the book I have read is written in English. In his work, Neff ‘ruthlessly prunes the dense overgrowth of classical and biblical display, to allow the substantive ideas of Grotius to be absorbed in straightforward (or at least relatively straightforward) form by modern readers’. The modern reader will appreciate just how indebted we are to Neff for performing this, no doubt delicate and time-consuming task. Reviewing a book always presents its particular challenges, and reviewing this particular book certainly has been challenging. In one way, however, reviewing this book has been easy; I have not had to consider whether the original work has merits as it is already a classic. To fully evaluate Neff’s account of Grotius’ classic, I should of course have familiarised myself with the original work as well as any competing interpretive works. For obvious reasons of practicality, I have not done so. But for equally obvious reasons, this limits the value of my review and the reader of this review should not ignore this fact. However, one thing that I can say with the greatest certainty is that Hugo Grotius: On the Law of War and Peace gives a fascinating insight into topics of great relevance, now as well as at the time Hugo Grotius (or perhaps more correctly, Hugh de Groot) wrote his classic. On that basis, I would encourage anyone with an interest in public international law, legal history, jurisprudence, the law of war, or indeed seventeenth-century history and thinking, to read the book under review. Grotius’ book (original title being De Iure Belli ac Pacis) is first and foremost a legal text of kind, and one should not be mislead by the title to think it deals only with the law of war and peace. In fact, a wide variety of legal matters is covered such as property law topics, law of the sea, international law more generally, and jurisprudential issues such as the concept of ‘ownership’ and the concept of ‘good faith’. However, it is doubtlessly of even broader relevance, and the political and religious elements and implications are obvious and everywhere present. Further, in dealing with what is morally just in warfare, it also (whether intentionally or not) enters into the sphere of literature dealing with how to conduct successful warfare. After all, the success or failure of a military campaign may be directly dependent on whether the campaign is seen as being conducted morally or not – warfare being perceived as morally justified, and conducted morally, may (1) attract supporters to the campaign, and (2) prevent the enemy

The characteristics making Internet communication challenge traditional models of regulation – What every international jurist should know about the Internet

In order to determine why certain forms of Internet communication challenge traditional models of regulation, we must identify which characteristics make them different to other forms of communication. Focusing on conflict of laws, it is submitted that regard must be had to the characteristics of borderlessness, geographical independence, limited language dependence, one-to-many communication, low threshold information distribution, widely used, portability, lack of reliable geographical identifiers, reactive nature, lack of central control and convergence. These characteristics cause an imbalance between the ease of cross-border contacts on the one hand, and the difficulty of solving cross-border disputes on the other. Furthermore, certain conflict of laws rules have lost their logical bases, and those active on the Internet may lack notice of the applicable law and which forums they are exposed to. In addition, the existing gap between reasonable grounds for jurisdictional claims and reasonable grounds for recognition and enforcement has been widened.

An introduction to the comparative study of private law

Taylor and Francis RCLB_A_458204.sgm 10.1080/03050710903577077 Commo wealth Law Bulletin 0365-0718 (pri t)/1750-5976 (online) B ok Revi w 2 10 & Fr ncis 360 00March 10 Associate Professor Dan J rkerSva tesson d svant @b d.edu.au An introduction to the comparative study of private law , by James Gordle and Arthur Taylor von Mehren, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2006, 581 pp,

The right of reputation in the Internet era.

130.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-521-68185-8

From the airport to the surgery to the courtroom: Private international law and medical tourism

Protecting ones reputation has arguably become harder in this time of YouTube, ‘blogs’ and mobile phone cameras. The simple truth is that it is easier to get ‘caught’ doing something inappropriate and it is easier for people to publish defamatory materials. This article is a somewhat eclectic selection of issues of particular significance to the right of reputation in our modern Internet-based society.

Editorial: Time to Move Forward on International ICT Law

When people wish to take legal action in relation to damage suffered due to medical procedures carried out overseas, they are faced with complex issues. First, in which country can they sue? Second, which country’s laws will govern the dispute? And third, where can a potential favourable judgment be enforced? This article examines these private international law issues in the context of medical tourism. In doing so, particular emphasis is placed on investigating the private international law issues that would arise if an Australian citizen wanted to take action against a foreign provider of medical services, in relation to services rendered overseas.

Editorial: The diversity of international ICT law

Anyone studying the comparatively short history of the discipline we may refer to as information and communications technology (ICT) law will notice several trends. One such trend is that, where a new topic starts gaining attention, that attention is typically directed at the domestic context. For example, it is only relatively recently that the international dimensions of data privacy law have started to gain widespread attention, and areas such as cyber security are still mainly approached from a domestic perspective. This is not to deny that there, already early on, is an awareness of the international dimensions. All I am suggesting here is that those international dimensions only gain widespread attention once the domestic perspective has been pursued. And maybe this is both natural and desirable. However, what is striking is the extent to which attention is now being directed at the international dimensions of various topics falling within the umbrella term of ICT law. In fact, I think we are now in a “golden era” for anyone who has an interest in the cross-section of ICT law and international law – be it public, or private, international law (to the extent that distinction still is valid). In light of this, this special issue of the Masaryk University’s flagship journal – the Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology (MUJLT) – is definitely timely. And given the high quality of the contributions, and the interesting topics they address, I have no doubt that this issue will help progress the law on several vitally important topics. Because the time

Privacy and libel law: the clash with press freedom

The Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology (MUJLT) was established in 2007 and is now in its ninth year. All along it has had a strong international focus. This is of course only natural given that ICT law, by its very nature, is a strongly international discipline. After all, the Internet is a near global communications network and most of our activities online have some form of international dimension. Another reason for the Journal’s international focus is found in the fact that a considerable proportion of the articles published represent the fruit of the highly successful conference on interdisciplinary cyberspace issues held annually at the Masaryk University. I have attended this conference every year since 2004 and have witnessed it grow and truly blossom under the diligent leadership of Radim Polcak. This Special Issue of the MUJLT focuses specifically on international ICT law issues, and is aimed at showcasing the diversity of matters that arise in the cross-section of law, technology and the international dimension. All the contributions included are based on presentations given at Cyberspace 2014 held at Masaryk University 28-29 November 2014 and cover a wide range of ICT law issues that all, in one way or another, have an international dimension. Three contributions deal with the European Union’s reform of its approach to consumer protection issues, including cross-border consumer issues. Michael Bogdan (Lund University) addresses in his comment the new EU Regulation No 524/2013 on Online Dispute Resolution for

A Legal Method for Solving Issues of Internet Regulation; Applied to the Regulation of Cross-Border Privacy Issues

It is difficult to image a better time to examine the clash between privacy and libel laws on the one hand, and press freedom on the other hand, than now. We have a major clash of ideologies between the United States and Europe. And in the UK phone hacking scandal, we have just witnessed what arguably is the largest media scandal in recent history. Mr Tweed’s book uses these two events as the point of departure for his fascinating account of the world of Fleet Street. The reader is introduced to a world of libel tourism (and indeed libel terrorism!), SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) motions, super-injunctions and the Streisand effect – matters of crucial importance to lawyers in the field of media law, media students and no doubt of interest to the public at large.

Cross-border judicial cooperation in offshore litigation

This article presents a legal method that can be used to find solutions to the challenges of regulating Internet technology. The method consists of ten steps and the reader is guided through the application of these steps. To illustrate the use of the method, it is applied to the research task of finding a solution to the conundrum of regulating cross-border data flows on the Internet. Thus, the article has two distinct aims, and it should benefit anyone with an interest in research methodology, as well as those interested in the regulation of privacy in general, and on an international level, in particular.