Introducing AI, the lightsaber to the legal world! It glows with many possibilities, yet promises many dangers if wielded improperly. AI is capable of assisting with legal research, evidence gathering and drafting submissions, but further development is required for it to operate autonomously as an advocate.
The near universal accessibility of the internet in Australia has led to the simplification of many commercial activities such as retail banking and the lodging of tax returns. Conversely, navigation of the judicial system, which prior to COVID-19 had largely resisted digitalisation, remains a complex, expensive and daunting experience for most litigants. Despite the incremental acceptance of technology by the Australian judiciary, the experience of comparable common law jurisdictions suggests a transition to online courts is inevitable.
This piece explores the extra-legal basis of China’s social credit system and the recent proposals to reform the scheme through a progressive vision of legality, consistency and clarity. However, the proposed developments struggle to substantiate how such ideals will be achieved in practice without any legislative mandate.
Content warning: rape, sexual violence
‘Rape culture’ thrives in an environment in which sexual violence and assault is freely perpetrated. In our modern and globalised society, it is shocking to notice the prominence of rape culture increasing despite the call to action to reduce such instances. From personal experience, the attitude of ‘boys will be boys’ normalises sexually promiscuous comments, jokes, inappropriate touching, and similar to continue. Unfortunately, most readers of this article would have experienced or been in close contact with some form of sexual harassment or violence during their lives. Such instances have the impact of diminished mental health outcomes including anxiety, depression, trauma, and others.
It was difficult to ignore the controversy this statement stirred within the legal community two months ago. In his first White House address regarding the George Floyd Riots, the President threatened to invoke the powers provided in 10 U.S.C. § 251-255 ‘Insurrection Act’. This allows a President to deploy the US Military or federalised National Guard into states where insurrection has threatened constitutionally protected rights or legal order. While the debate was focused on whether the Insurrection Act could be used against the riots, little attention was given to another law which limits the President’s ability to domestically deploy the military for law enforcement.
More than 200 years after Immanuel Kant called for the protection of human rights under international law, the United Nations adopted a Charter unprecedented in human history, determined to save successive generations from the scourge of war. However, since its founding in 1945, the world has been plagued by war. The twentieth century saw two World Wars, a Cold War, and the mass extermination of six million Jews. If there was a chronicle on world history, the twentieth century would be its darkest chapter. From Syria, the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, to Yemen, home to more than 12 million children on the brink of starvation, recent world events have reignited the hotly contested debate on humanitarian intervention.
The closure of the campus means that in the foreseeable future we may not be able to catch up with friends at Taste or listen to the carillon chiming as we walk through the Quad, but for many, these are the least of our issues. A proportion of non-local students have taken the option of leaving Sydney and returning home; most of them are still paying the rent for their no-longer-occupied accommodation.
