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School University of Bristol Law School Blog A window into the legal research carried out at the Law School Menu About the Law School Blog Terms of Business Seven sorts of reasons to support the Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2024’s (apparently) strange approach to age limits Posted on April 18, 2024 by foluke.adebisi by Professor John Coggon , University of Bristol Law School The Tobacco and Vapes Bill ’s introduction to, and now passage through, Parliament has reignited debates on fundamentals of political authority and public health ethics; debates about the meaning and reach of fundamental freedoms, the scope and limits of the state’s protective functions, and ultimately the boundaries of legitimate government intervention . Amongst its provisions, particular interest has been sparked by the bill’s creation of an offence of selling tobacco products, herbal smoking products, and cigarette papers to persons born on or after 1 st January, 2009, and the buying of such products for such persons. Questions have been raised about the coherence and justifiability of these measures. Limitations defined by reference to a fixed birth date rather than a specified age (say a ban regarding persons under 18) are not unprecedented . But they are extraordinary. However, both the extraordinariness here, and its moral significance, have been overstated. In this blog, I give background critical context, and then explain seven sorts of reasons why the bill’s approach is less remarkable than may be thought—and with that, rather harder to challenge. (more…) Posted in Bristol Scholars Tagged health law , health policy , Tobacco and Vapes Bill Leave a Comment on Seven sorts of reasons to support the Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2024’s (apparently) strange approach to age limits Decolonisation, Anti-Racism, and Legal Pedagogy: Strategies, Successes, and Challenges Posted on March 25, 2024 March 20, 2024 by foluke.adebisi by Professor Foluke Adebisi , University of Bristol Law School In 2021, I, Suhraiya Jivraj and Ntina Tzouvala undertook a project to curate pedagogical perspectives on teaching legacies of empire in law schools across different continents. The result was an edited collection with a specific focus on post- and decolonial thought as well as on anti-racist methods in pedagogy. Decolonisation, Anti-Racism, and Legal Pedagogy: Strategies, Successes, and Challenges . Taylor & Francis, 2023. With contributions from diverse jurisdictions, including India, South Africa, Australia, and Canada, the volume aims to critically examine the ways that decolonisation and anti-racism can be innovated in legal pedagogy. We hoped to demonstrate how teaching can be modified and adapted to address long-standing colonial and racial injustice in the curriculum. For more on our initial vision for the volume, see the original call for papers . (more…) Posted in Bristol Scholars Tagged anti-racism , antiracism , book launch , decolonisation , decolonising the curriculum , legal pedagogy , new book Leave a Comment on Decolonisation, Anti-Racism, and Legal Pedagogy: Strategies, Successes, and Challenges Do IT Workers Need Labour Rights? A Critical Look at Gig Contracts as an Intermediate Employment Model in Ukraine Posted on March 18, 2024 March 14, 2024 by foluke.adebisi by Yana Simutina, Visiting Professor, University of Bristol Law School (Photo: UNDP in Ukraine/Internews) The digitalisaton and emergence of the gig economy has led to significant changes in employment and labour relations around the world. As businesses seek more flexible and cost-effective solutions for hiring workers, policymakers are considering adapting the regulatory framework to the challenges of new forms work. Ukraine, a country undergoing economic and social transformation, has experienced growth in the digital sector over the last decade (especially before the full-scale Russian invasion). Against this background, a new legal framework for IT companies is called Diia.City was launched in 2021 by adopting the Law on Stimulating the Development of the Digital Economy in Ukraine (LSDDE). The LSDDE introduced new legal concepts such as the ‘gig contract’, which is not legally defined or applied in other jurisdictions or EU law. In any case, the use of the term ‘gig’ is associated with digital platforms and fragmented activities carried out outside the framework of traditional forms of employment, with irregular or additional income without labour protection. Given that the ‘gig contract’ category has a rather negative connotation from a labour law perspective, several questions arise. First, what are the potential benefits and challenges of this employment model? Secondly, in a broader context, are gig contracts a sustainable solution to the challenges of employment relations in the digital economy, or do they further blur the boundaries between civil and labour law? (more…) Posted in Bristol Scholars Tagged ’gig’ economy , ’gig’ workers , employment rights , information technology , labour law , Ukraine Leave a Comment on Do IT Workers Need Labour Rights? A Critical Look at Gig Contracts as an Intermediate Employment Model in Ukraine Is the Loss and Damage Fund all that it promises to be? Examining some of the Fund’s shortcomings and putting things into perspective after COP 28 Posted on March 1, 2024 February 29, 2024 by foluke.adebisi By Alexia Kaplan, LLM Student, University of Bristol Law School, Friends of the Earth International COP 28, the latest United Nations Climate Conference, came to an end in December 2023. It began with an agreement to launch the loss and damage fund, which was kick-started by the UAE’s $100 million pledge. A further 15 countries followed suit, making pledges of varying amounts, and by 2 December 2023, a cumulative total of $655.9 million had been pledged to the loss and damage fund . The fund has been heralded by many as the biggest success of the entire conference and a historic agreement – being the first time that a substantive decision was adopted on the first day of the Conference. The delegates of nations present from around the world, rose in a standing ovation when the agreement was passed. (more…) Posted in Bristol Scholars Tagged COP28 , Loss and Damage , UNFCCC Leave a Comment on Is the Loss and Damage Fund all that it promises to be? Examining some of the Fund’s shortcomings and putting things into perspective after COP 28 Loss and Damage in Developed Countries: Who or what gets left behind? Posted on February 29, 2024 February 26, 2024 by foluke.adebisi by Temitope Tunbi Onifade , University of Bristol Law School Vanuatu’s proposal for ‘ an International Climate Fund to finance measures to counter the adverse consequences of climate change, and a separate International Insurance Pool to provide financial insurance against the consequences of sea level rise ’ put the issue of loss and damage on the agenda during the negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1991. This agenda has evolved to refer to negotiations on ways to address extreme weather and slow onset events not fully dealt with by adaptation measures. Powerful jurisdictions such as the United States and European Union uniformly opposed it when it first came up and for many years after. However, this attitude has gradually changed at subsequent meetings of the highest decision-making body of the convention, called Conference of the Parties (COP). (more…) Posted in Bristol Scholars Tagged Centre for Environmental Law and Sustainability , COP28 , International Climate Fund , Loss and Damage , United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Leave a Comment on Loss and Damage in Developed Countries: Who or what gets left behind? Did the Global Stocktake make progress in climate law through COP28? Reflecting on an in-person zoom conference in the desert Posted on February 28, 2024 February 26, 2024 by foluke.adebisi By Dr Colin Nolden , University of Bristol Law School...