Journal of Law, Society and Authority

Conditioning Protection on Origin: TRIPS Article 73 and Intellectual Property in the EU–Russia Sanctions Conflict

2026-09-19T19:26:08+00:00

Since 2022 the European Union and Russia have each made intellectual property an instrument of statecraft, and each has done so by reference to the origin of the right holder. The European Union refuses registration to Russian applicants under Article 5s of Regulation 833/2014, prohibits the licensing or transfer of rights and trade secrets tied to restricted goods, and, under Council Regulation (EU) 2026/506, prohibits transactions with Russian entities that exploit European-owned rights without consent. Russia first cut the remuneration owed to patent holders from "unfriendly" states to zero through Government Decree No. 299 in 2022 and then replaced that rule. Government Resolution No. 380 of 2024 restored a 0.5 per cent rate, but routes payment to a restricted "O" account and channels authorisations through a new economic security subcommission.

The current measure degrades the value and transferability of that remuneration by origin rather than denying it outright. Both states condition the substance of protection on nationality, which strains the national-treatment and most-favoured-nation guarantees of TRIPS Articles 3 and 4 and the adequate-remuneration requirement of Article 31. The study asks whether the security exception in TRIPS Article 73 absorbs these measures or leaves an inconsistency the system cannot correct. It combines doctrinal analysis, functional characterisation of each measure, and structured hypothesis testing.

Three hypotheses are tested: a lawful good-faith security response, a breach without remedy, and a geopolitical carve-out that erodes the national-treatment baseline. The analysis applies the two-stage test from Russia – Traffic in Transit and Saudi Arabia – IPRs, treating the good-faith limb as the variable that decides each case. The outcome is left open. The limit on regulatory authority over private rights lies in the plausibility link between a measure and a stated security interest, while the capacity to enforce that limit has lapsed.

Between Reform and Performance: Women's Rights in the Gulf as Strategic Statecraft

2026-09-19T15:33:09+00:00

Gulf states have rapidly expanded women’s legal rights—covering mobility, employment, and political quotas—while simultaneously intensifying authoritarian repression and suppressing independent feminist voices. This article argues that these reforms are best understood as strategic statecraft rather than a trajectory toward emancipation. Drawing on comparative legal analysis of Saudi and Emirati legislation and critical discourse analysis of official policy documents and speeches, it develops the concept of “authoritarian state feminism”: the deployment of gender reform to serve authoritarian consolidation.

Externally, reforms function as nation-branding tools that attract investment and deflect human rights scrutiny; internally, they neutralise religious authority and pre-empt independent civil society. Class inequalities ensure that migrant and rural women are largely excluded from these gains. The article contributes an integrated analytical framework bridging authoritarian upgrading, state feminism, and nation-branding literatures, and tentatively suggests that this model may have comparative relevance beyond the Gulf region.

Striking a Balance Between the Right to Knowledge and the Protection of Copyright in the Digital Environment: An Analysis in Light of International Law and Algerian Legislation

2026-09-19T15:37:29+00:00

The digital revolution has brought about a radical transformation in knowledge and its dissemination. Whereas it was previously made available to the public on traditional physical media, thanks to the digitization of intellectual works, it is now presented in modern digital formats. This has necessitated a re-evaluation of the relationship between knowledge and the legal texts that govern copyright protection. Given that these works contain scientific knowledge and confer economic and moral rights on their creators, which are legally protected, it has become difficult to regulate the enjoyment of these rights by authors and their heirs without infringing the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals and society regarding the free use of scientific knowledge. While access to knowledge is one of the fundamental pillars of human rights and comprehensive development, copyright protection is a legal necessity for promoting innovation and creativity.

Against this backdrop, this study analyzed the transformations undergone by the concept of knowledge in the digital environment. It also assessed the effectiveness of international and national legal texts in balancing the right of individuals to acquire and utilize knowledge, as determined by positive law, with the protection of copyright arising from the legal protection of intellectual creations. The study also proposed new technical and legal mechanisms designed to re-establish this balance in the digital age.

The International Duality in Managing Regional Crises Related to Iran: Between Military Intervention and De- escalation Mechanisms – A Case Study of the Strait of Hormuz

2026-09-19T15:43:07+00:00

This study highlights the international duality inherent in addressing regional crises related to Iran. It compares two key approaches to international response: military intervention on the one hand and de‑escalation mechanisms on the other. This study analyses and compares the factors influencing the international community’s choice between these two approaches, highlighting the nature of strategic interests, legal and diplomatic frameworks, and the role of regional and international actors.

The study finds that international responses to crises are characterized by duality, and the approach taken—whether cooperative (peaceful) or coercive (military)—varies because of differing security, economic, and social considerations. Given the international and regional communities’ inclination toward promoting stability and security, the findings suggest a preference for using peaceful de-escalation mechanisms in managing regional and international crises, as these are better suited to containing escalation than coercive military options.

The Influence of Political Culture on Democratic Transformation in Transitional Societies: An Analytical Perspective

2026-09-19T15:48:12+00:00

The paper examines the relationship between political culture and democratic transition in transitional societies by classifying the theoretical analysis of that relationship within three basic approaches: the political sociology approach, the political economy approach, and the political legitimacy approach.

This paper aims to identify solutions for transitional societies suffering from social chaos arising from the transition from authoritarian regimes to democracy, which has led either to a return to authoritarianism or to the spread of societal chaos. This is what happened in Iraq after 2003 in an attempt to change the one-party system towards democratic pluralism, where the realities on the ground produced more internal divisions and security crises.

The article's methodology is based on collecting theoretical and quantitative information from previous studies and research published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and international organizations.

The democratic transition, accompanied by reduced anarchy in democratic societies, is based, according to global experiences, on changing the existing rules in those societies.

The article includes the dynamics of transferring from negative norms based on weak governance, corruption, and limited political participation to higher ethical standards based on political participation, good governance, and innovation, which are the same indicators that the political culture of the state seeks to promote. The study presents a set of recommendations, some of which concern political institutions in transitional societies, while others are addressed to researchers in political science, specifically political systems and public policy. The first group of recommendations is ensuring that political institutions implement constitutional principles that maintain political stability in transitional societies, and that they embed democratic principles in practical application, starting from the smallest social unit in society, the family, up to the state's governing institutions. As for the second group of recommendations, they propose important and effective variables for research and study, like: institutional stability, satisfaction with government performance, and electronic oversight systems for political institutions.

Recruitment Practices and Migration Policies: Structural Drivers of Migrant Workers Exploitation

2026-09-19T16:33:38+00:00

Migrant workers continue to experience exploitation despite the existence of legal protections under both domestic and international law. This article argues that the continued vulnerability of migrant workers is not primarily attributable to the absence of legal rights, but rather to two structural issues: recruitment practices and migration policies. Through an analysis of international legal standards and selected national approaches, the article examines how unfair recruitment practices and restrictive employer-tied migration policies create dependency on employers and undermine workers' ability to exercise their rights. It concludes that strengthening the protection of migrant workers requires not only legal guarantees but also reforms to recruitment governance and migration policies that address the structural conditions enabling exploitation.

Metaethical Neutrality in Applied Ethics: The Case of Stray Dogs

2026-09-19T17:36:47+00:00

This article develops a neutral metaethical approach to animal ethics centered on the notion of moral commitments and applies it to the contemporary problem of stray dogs. Rather than attempting to resolve the longstanding dispute between moral realism and moral anti-realism, it argues that ethical reflection can begin from the practical moral valuations already present within individuals and societies. A being possesses moral status, in this framework, when it is treated as worthy of direct moral consideration, independently of whether such consideration is grounded in objective intrinsic value, social practices, emotional attachment, rational reflection, or other foundations. It is argued that moral communities frequently operate through shared commitments that do not require universal agreement regarding ultimate metaphysical justifications.

Using stray dogs as a case study, a claim is made that many contemporary societies already recognize dogs as morally relevant beings through laws, social practices, emotional bonds, and expectations regarding treatment and care. Because of the long historical relationship between humans and dogs, dogs frequently occupy an intermediate moral position between the merely instrumental and the fully personal. It is further argued that recognizing such moral status has practical implications for public policy, including the rejection of cruelty and the preference for responses such as sterilization, vaccination, adoption, and veterinary care. The proposed framework seeks to preserve ethical reasoning under conditions of pluralism and metaethical uncertainty while remaining practically applicable to concrete social problems.

Healthocide Engineering in Gaza Strip: An analysis of the Israeli Occupation’s Strategies and Impact on the Health System (2023-2025)

2026-09-19T19:37:06+00:00

The health systems have increasingly become targets of armed conflicts, raising growing concerns about the use of healthcare destruction as a tool of collective violence. In the context of the war on Gaza (2023–2025), extensive attacks on hospitals, medical personnel, healthcare infrastructure, and essential medical supplies have generated scholarly and legal debates regarding the emergence of what has recently been termed “healthocide” or “health genocide.” This study examines the concept of Healthocide Engineering in the Gaza Strip and analyzes the strategies employed by the Israeli occupation and their impact on the collapse of the healthcare system.

The research seeks to answer the following central question: To what extent can the systematic targeting of Gaza’s healthcare sector be conceptualized as a form of healthocide, and how can this phenomenon be interpreted within the frameworks of international law and contemporary political theory? To address this question, the study adopts a qualitative descriptive-analytical methodology based on the examination of reports issued by United Nations agencies, international organizations, human rights bodies, official health statistics, and relevant academic literature covering the period from October 2023 to 2025.

The findings indicate that the targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, healthcare infrastructure, medical supply chains, and health information systems constitutes a multidimensional pattern of destruction that extends beyond conventional military operations. The study demonstrates that siege, starvation, deprivation of medical care, and restrictions on humanitarian access have significantly contributed to the deterioration of health conditions and the functional collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system. The analysis further shows that these practices may be interpreted as mechanisms of structural violence that operate through the management of life, illness, and death, consistent with the theoretical perspectives of biopower and necropolitics.

The study concludes that Healthocide Engineering provides a useful analytical framework for understanding contemporary forms of violence directed against health systems in conflict settings. It recommends strengthening international accountability mechanisms, protecting healthcare infrastructure during armed conflicts, improving documentation of health-related violations, and advancing scholarly research on healthocide as an emerging interdisciplinary concept situated at the intersection of international law, political science, and health studies.

Algorithmic Media Landscapes: Structural Transformations, Political Implications, and the Legal Vacuum in the Digital Public Sphere

2026-09-19T17:46:02+00:00

This research investigates the profound structural transformations occurring within the digital public sphere as a result of the transition from human editorial gatekeeping to automated algorithmic curation. By examining the technical architecture of digital platforms, the study analyzes how the logic of "engagement" has superseded the democratic ideal of rational-critical debate, leading to the emergence of fragmented informational environments. The analysis deconstructs the mechanics of filter bubbles and echo chambers, demonstrating their systemic role in fueling political polarization and undermining social cohesion. Furthermore, the paper addresses the critical "legal vacuum" created by the proprietary nature of algorithmic "black boxes," which allows global technology firms to exercise quasi-sovereign power over public discourse while remaining largely exempt from traditional legal accountability.

Through a multi-disciplinary lens, the study evaluates the weaponization of disinformation and the psychological impact of political micro-targeting on individual autonomy. The results indicate that the current self-regulatory paradigm is insufficient to protect the epistemic integrity of democratic processes. Consequently, the research argues for an urgent shift toward "algorithmic governance" and "democracy by design," advocating for mandatory independent auditing, multi-stakeholder participation, and the decoupling of platform profit motives from the amplification of extremism. Ultimately, this study emphasizes that safeguarding the democratic public sphere in the 21st century requires a comprehensive legal and communicative redesign of the digital landscape to ensure it serves the public interest rather than the objectives of surveillance capitalism.

Reflections on the Protection of Fundamental Rights in Sub-Saharan African States

2026-09-19T18:06:51+00:00

The present study aims to highlight the characteristic features of the protection of fundamental rights in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through a legal methodology, supplemented by historical and sociological perspectives, this reflection demonstrates that this protection, while rooted in pre-colonial forms of social wisdom and organization, has been primarily structured and expanded under the influence of post-independence dynamics and international cooperation. The analysis identifies two main facets of this process. On the one hand, it underscores the considerable evolution in the forms of protecting human dignity, evidenced by the development of innovative legal norms that reflect a syncretism between universalism and African cultural particularism (notably through the African Cultural Renaissance Charter), and by the crucial institutional contributions of regional organizations and community courts.

On the other hand, the study highlights a perceptible improvement in the living environment, which involves addressing human security concerns, particularly in the face of threats like terrorism, and advancing the protection of ecological spaces by integrating sustainable development principles. However, this protective dynamic remains hampered by numerous obstacles. The analysis identifies normative hurdles, such as the limited justiciability of certain cultural rights and the burdensome process of incorporating international norms into domestic law, as well as shortcomings in judicial guarantees, marked by access-to-justice issues for vulnerable populations and a certain reluctance among constitutional judges. Ultimately, this reflection offers a nuanced view of the progress made and the persistent challenges in the quest for effective protection of fundamental rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Geopolitics of Resources and Underdevelopment in Africa: Unequal Exchange as a Key Explanatory Framework

2026-09-19T17:59:53+00:00

If there is one undeniable fact, it is that the exploitation of mineral resources is a development opportunity for Africa. The interest of major powers in these resources, and the resulting economic and commercial boom, can reasonably be considered as possibilities for the long-awaited social change. However, it must be acknowledged that Africa's "integration" into global value chains, in a context where unequal exchange conditions persist, greatly limits the possibilities for development through its mineral resources. This article aims to demonstrate how unequal exchange constitutes a relevant explanation of the failure of development in peripheral countries within a context of dependence on the industrialized center.

To achieve this, we primarily relied on documentary content analysis and participant observation. This work is thus the result of experience as a consultant at the African Minerals Development Center (AMDC), as well as discussions at scientific conferences and extensive reading on development issues. Our research has confirmed that unequal exchange contributes to stabilizing geopolitical balances that are detrimental to the development of peripheral countries. Similarly, the dependency patterns observed in the African extractive sector make it difficult to establish governance which is aligned with local interests. Under these conditions, Africa's development undeniably depends on delinking itself from the forces that contribute to its marginalization.

Legal Analysis on the Nature of the Obligation to Respect the Principle of Equality Between Parties in Civil Proceedings

2026-09-19T18:15:42+00:00

Equality between parties in civil proceedings stems from the requirements of fair trial. It is thus linked to a fundamental interest, of which the judge is the guardian. Thus, the analysis of the legal nature of the obligation to respect this equality aimed to answer a fundamental question. Is it an absolute or relative obligation for the judge? The answer provided is not homogeneous. The study rather highlights the need for the judge to draw a line between the imperative contents of the principle and its enabling contents. Therefore, when the principle of equality protects a fundamental right, its content is imperative. The judge is not entitled to ignore it. On the other hand, when it tends to become an instrument of dilatory tactics, the judge may ignore it or at least reduce its imperative scope.

The Role of Media Discourse in Managing the Russian Ukrainian War

2026-09-19T19:02:09+00:00

The Russian-Ukrainian war has underscored the instrumental role of media discourse in shaping public perceptions and managing narratives at both the domestic and international levels. As the conflict escalated following Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, media outlets became central actors in framing the war through competing discursive strategies: Russia's securitized narrative versus Ukraine's humanized portrayal of the conflict. This study aims to analyze the function of media discourse in managing the Russian-Ukrainian war by evaluating the discursive features employed by both Russian and Ukrainian (and Western) media in influencing public opinion, legitimizing military actions, and mobilizing support. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative case study approach combined with comparative analysis, focusing on primary media content disseminated by both sides. A statistical lens was also applied to assess propaganda techniques, particularly image use, emotional appeals, and disinformation tactics.
The findings demonstrate that media discourse has not only shaped the informational environment but also served as a strategic tool for psychological warfare and international influence. Russian media primarily focused on securitizing the conflict through terms such as “existential threat,” “Nazism,” and “defense of national sovereignty,” while Ukrainian media framed the war as a humanitarian crisis, emphasizing civilian suffering, refugee displacement, and violations of international law. The study concludes that both sides employed propaganda mechanisms—ranging from obfuscation and information suppression to emotional storytelling—to sustain domestic morale and sway global narratives. Theoretical implications touch upon the power of discourse in conflict escalation and perception management, while practical recommendations highlight the need for critical media literacy and enhanced regulatory frameworks to combat misinformation in times of war.

Public–Private Partnership in Algeria: Between Constitutional Guarantees and Legislative Treatment

2026-09-19T19:12:42+00:00

Public-Private Partnerships are considered one of the widely adopted methods for revitalizing national economies and providing public services in the face of state financial resource scarcity. These partnerships take several forms, ranging from public service delegations to the participation of public and private operators in the capital of a specific enterprise. Algeria recognized this latter model starting in 1982 through the Law Organizing Mixed Economy Companies. This was further consolidated by the 1995 Ordinance concerning the privatization of public enterprises, and the process was subsequently revised by the 2001 Ordinance.

However, this type of partnership experienced a decline when the 2009 Supplemental Finance Law established a ceiling that private investors -whether domestic or foreign- could not exceed in any economic partnership in Algeria. This status quo persisted until the 2020 Finance Law abolished the aforementioned ceiling, maintaining it only for strategic sectors. Although the new Investment Law introduced numerous incentive provisions regarding opening investment to foreigners and domestic private sector, ambiguity remains concerning the fate of the 49/51 rule as it pertains to these strategic sectors.

Procedural Justice under Law 25-14: Institutional Efficiency and the Shift towards Digitalization and Consensualism

2026-09-19T19:22:18+00:00

This study examines the radical transformation of the Algerian criminal procedural system following Law No. 25-14, dated August 3, 2025. It addresses the lack of harmony between the legacy texts of Ordinance 66-155 and contemporary developments, highlighting the urgent need to modernize criminal justice mechanisms to ensure judicial efficiency and protect fundamental rights. The research primarily aims to analyze the newly introduced procedural model, shedding light on enhancing the institutional effectiveness of the Public Prosecution and demonstrating the impact of digitalization and Alternative Dispute Resolution in alleviating the burden on trial courts while establishing judicial security.

To achieve these objectives, the study employed descriptive, analytical, Key results include the success of Law N^o. 25-14 in extending the Public Prosecution’s jurisdiction technically and institutionally through a precise evaluation system for judicial police and the recognition of the absolute legality of digital evidence. Furthermore, adopting criminal mediation and revising statute of limitations rules-to commence from the date of discovery-effectively reduced impunity and promoted conciliatory thought.

These results confirm the Algerian judiciary’s transition from formal oversight to active supervision. Practical implications are evident in the "Technical Prosecution" concept, which balances fighting organized crime with privacy protection, enhancing citizens' trust in the rule of law. Finally, the research recommends intensifying continuous training for judges and judicial police on new technical mechanisms, alongside expanding the digitalization of financial penalty enforcement to ensure the transparent recovery of public treasury rights.