The Paris Olympics and Paralympics are scheduled to take place between 26 July and 8 September 2024, whereby electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft are anticipated to take to the skies to... Show moreThe Paris Olympics and Paralympics are scheduled to take place between 26 July and 8 September 2024, whereby electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft are anticipated to take to the skies to offer a new mobility solution to spectators of the Games. This will allow paying members of the public to move between different points within the Paris region akin to an on-demand taxi service, but through the air; passenger air taxi services (PATS). These passengers, as consumers, will have certain rights and duties under European Union law. To determine the level of protection afforded to these air passengers, a full assessment of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 is required. As the revision of the Regulation is currently on the European Commission’s agenda, it is also important to consider its revision in light of PATS, whereby new technology, emerging business practices, changing customer behaviour and societal expectations for the level of legal protection of PATS users must be considered. This article will, therefore, assess the current version of the Regulation, in light of the interpretation from the European Court, to see whether it applies to PATS and, if so, whether it is suitable or if specific amendments need to be added to the planned revised Regulation. Show less
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is an emerging air traffic system designed for passengers and cargo in and around urban environments. Both the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States and the... Show moreUrban Air Mobility (UAM) is an emerging air traffic system designed for passengers and cargo in and around urban environments. Both the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency endorse a phased development approach for UAM, commencing with manned aviation and subsequently transitioning to remotely piloted and autonomous operations. This article focuses on legal considerations related to aviation safety, with a specific focus on pilot licensing and crew fatigue management. An analysis of existing aviation law provisions suggests that the International Civil Aviation Organization can work with local authorities to create regulations governing both on-board and remote pilots involved in UAM operations. Safety standards in air law can apply mutatis mutandis to on-board pilots until specific regulations are developed. In the longer term, there shall be domestic laws on both on-board and remote UAM pilots. Show less
This article provides an overview of the so-called “Digitally Derived Evidence” (DDE) project of the Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum for International Humanitarian Law (KGF) at Leiden University, which... Show moreThis article provides an overview of the so-called “Digitally Derived Evidence” (DDE) project of the Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum for International Humanitarian Law (KGF) at Leiden University, which examines the different legal standards of evidence used before different national as well as international criminal courts apply to the assessment of international crimes. The project was launched in 2019 by KGF Director Dr. Robert Heinsch and his colleague, Dr. Emma Irving. They initiated and offered students at the Leiden International Humanitarian Law Clinic the opportunity to contribute to the research.The DDE project resulted in the online accessible Leiden DDE database, which offers the Leiden guidelines for the use of digitally obtained evidence in international criminal courts and tribunals as well as a wide range of online resources. These resources aim to make it easier for judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys to work with digital evidence. Furthermore, this online database aims to support international accountability mechanisms through the in-depth examination of evidentiary issues relating to digitally derived evidence. Show less
The European Union (EU) faces a pressing, multi-level energy crisis propelled by the perfect storm of Russia’s war in Ukraine and rapidly progressing climate change. As a result, the EU is... Show moreThe European Union (EU) faces a pressing, multi-level energy crisis propelled by the perfect storm of Russia’s war in Ukraine and rapidly progressing climate change. As a result, the EU is scrambling to ensure it has sufficient energy supplies for the foreseeable future while reinventing its energy strategy in the long term. Since the EU is at a critical juncture for squaring EU energy security with European and international legal commitments, this article surveys this radical shift and its consequences. It analyses new EU-wide crisis-response tools and ad hoc bilateral arrangements with third countries against existing legal commitments. Recent developments are only the beginning of a much larger re-evaluation of core notions of the ‘trade-energy security’ nexus. To decarbonize, the EU must move towards a ‘security-centred’ energy transition, premised on ‘security first, compliance second’. This requires reassessing the notion of ‘protectionism’ in geopolitically sensitive areas and the current division of energy competences between the EU and its Member States. Show less
This article analyses the United Kingdom’s (UK) ‘trade continuity programme’. The promise that, once outside the European Union (EU), the UK would strike new, lucrative trade deals continues to be... Show moreThis article analyses the United Kingdom’s (UK) ‘trade continuity programme’. The promise that, once outside the European Union (EU), the UK would strike new, lucrative trade deals continues to be an important part of the Brexiteers’ narrative. What the UK was compelled to do first, however, was to conclude ‘roll-over’ agreements to replace the trade agreements already made by the EU. This article posits that, contrary to expectations, the UK’s continuity programme should be regarded as a success – for both the UK and the EU. In most cases, the UK managed to replicate to a very large extent the terms originally granted to the EU, despite being a smaller market and despite challenging circumstances. From the EU’s perspective, the UK’s continuity programme can be regarded as a case of successful norm internalization and export. This first chapter of post-Brexit UK trade policy shows that even a country that has left the EU still legally commits itself and its partners to the EU’s norms and values. Hence, the EU should welcome the UK’s imitation as a shared normative basis to expand cooperation with its former member state in a challenging geopolitical environment. Show less
This article addresses the question of how the EU’s legal constraints can be overcome in the governance of Global Spaces. It shows, first, that EU law is part of a trend of including language... Show moreThis article addresses the question of how the EU’s legal constraints can be overcome in the governance of Global Spaces. It shows, first, that EU law is part of a trend of including language relating to Global Spaces in constitutional documents. The article subsequently highlights a tension specific to the EU as a non-state entity. While the EU Treaties enshrine grand foreign policy ambitions, which are impossible to achieve without a proactive role across the Global Spaces, EU law imposes several obstacles that complicate the pursuit of these ambitions. These concern particularly the need to base EU actions on powers conferred by the member states, the parallel international presence of the Union and the member states, and difficulties for the EU to join relevant international agreements and institutions. The article argues that through legal creativity, these constraints can be largely overcome, enabling the EU to pursue its ambitions nonetheless. Show less
The question of human rights and energy has been traditionally framed as an analysis of limitations on energy transactions arising from substantive and procedural human rights. Whereas the negative... Show moreThe question of human rights and energy has been traditionally framed as an analysis of limitations on energy transactions arising from substantive and procedural human rights. Whereas the negative externality framing of human rights sets safeguards against the adverse effects of energy transactions and thereby restrains how such transactions are conducted, it overlooks a more fundamental dimension, the conferral of entitlements. Indeed, human rights define entitlements over energy resources, setting competing claims that limit not only how energy transactions are conducted but also the very power to conduct them in the first place. The entitlement dimension of human rights also unveils a wider question, namely the competing claims of a variety of collective subjects against the entitlement of the territorial or coastal States. In other words, such reframing opposes two logics of international law, each based on a different conception of the source from which entitlements flow. This article investigates the externality-avoidance and entitlement function of human rights in the context of international energy transactions. It reviews the most relevant judicial and quasi-judicial practice at the international level to illustrate the implications of framing the function of human rights from one or the other perspective. Show less
According to international courts and tribunals, there exists in law only a “single continental shelf,” rather than an “inner” and an “outer” continental shelf. What originally started as a simple... Show moreAccording to international courts and tribunals, there exists in law only a “single continental shelf,” rather than an “inner” and an “outer” continental shelf. What originally started as a simple phrase to justify the jurisdiction of the court or tribunal eventually ended up as a justification for using the traditional delimitation methodology for delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200 NM. This article challenges the notion of a “single continental shelf” on various bases, namely, with respect to bases of entitlement, delineation formulas, the nature of coastal state rights, and the inapplicability of the equidistance line beyond 200 NM. Show less
