Martin on ‘Applying the Precautionary Principle to Hidden Collapse'

Associate Professor Rhett Martin of the University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice has co-authored (with David Lindenmayer) a new article titled 'Applying the Precautionary Principle to Hidden Collapse'.  The article appears in Volume 16 of Sustainability.  Here is the abstract:

"There is growing evidence around the world of serious decline in biodiversity requiring urgent application of precautionary risk management. A better regulatory regime for precautionary management of long-term risk is now an urgent priority. This article addresses the prioritization of long-term risk management by examining risk management of ecosystems that may be experiencing hidden collapse. Hidden collapse refers to the existence of environmental indicators indicative of future collapse of forests, even though the forest appears intact and not at risk of ecosystem collapse. Professor David Lindenmayer and Dr Chloe Sato (Lindenmayer) first identified hidden collapse in 2018 in Mountain Ash forests of Victoria, Australia. The risk of hidden collapse represents a long-term environmental threat and is a potential trigger for application of the precautionary principle (principle). Implicit in hidden collapse are two preconditions for application of the principle; the risk of a serious or irreversible environmental threat, and the existence of scientific uncertainty about the nature of the risk. Despite hidden collapse satisfying these essential preconditions for applying the principle, decision makers did not apply it in respect hidden collapse of Mountain Ash forests in Victoria. This article considers the current status of the principle in regulation and how it can be adjusted to address long term environmental risk."

Crowe on ‘Harmonising Sexual Consent Law in Australia: Goals, Risks and Challenges'

Professor Jonathan Crowe of the University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice has co-written a new paper titled 'Harmonising Sexual Consent Law in Australia: Goals, Risks and Challenges'.  The paper has been published as an article in Volume 49 of the Monash University Law Review.  Here is the abstract:

"The 2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, sought to persuade ‘all governments across Australia to adopt the same definitions of consent, grooming, the age of a child, and sexual intercourse’. However, sexual consent law harmonisation in Australia faces formidable obstacles. We argue that an affirmative consent standard represents the appropriate goal of harmonisation, while potential risks include levelling-down reforms and undermining the role of competitive federalism. We identify four main obstacles to legal harmonisation, including strong advocacy coalitions, jurisdictional differences, historical failures and political disincentives. We conclude these obstacles do not mean harmonisation is undesirable or impossible, but it would require prolonged attention, resources and political will, as well as a nuanced understanding of the difficulties involved."

Radavoi on 'Ante-factum Legislative General Vaccination Mandates, as a Solution to Legal Hypocrisy in Pandemics'

Associate Professor Ciprian Radavoi of the University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice has published a new article titled 'Ante-factum Legislative General Vaccination Mandates, as a Solution to Legal Hypocrisy in Pandemics'.  The article appears in Volume 16 of the World Medical and Health Policy.  Here is the abstract:

"With the next pandemic likely not far off, the debate over the suitability of a broad, general vaccination mandate (GVM) goes on. This essay proposes a novel argument in favor of GVM—one based on the reality that left to its own devices, executive power, from governments to the local administration and even corporations, tends anyway to impose on the nonvaccinated restrictions of such harshness that vaccination becomes de facto mandatory. The most coercive measure was banning the nonvaccinated from the workplace, which was done—despite the fundamental importance of the right to work to the human being—without any genuine examination of the elements of balancing (necessity, proportionality) required whenever a right is limited by the authorities. Mandating vaccination de jure, by parliaments, before the next pandemic strikes would have the merits of avoiding legal hypocrisy and would be achieved following national public debate and a thorough process of balancing the rights at stake."