News 2019

Two Carnegie Mellon University professors expect 2020 could bring new regulations and laws to protect consumers from data privacy risks and block pirate sites. In the coming year, Ari Lightman , professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy , predicts that lawmakers will tighten regulations on social media networks as part of a push for more transparency from digital giants.

The Law and Development Research Group welcomes Tomaso Ferrando (research professor), Antidius Kaitu, Tefera Addis (PhD researchers) and Anne Oloo (Sustjustice coordinator). The Law and Development Research Group welcomes Tomaso Ferrando (research professor), Antidius Kaitu, and Tefera Addis (PhD researchers).

Nearly half (45%) of in-house lawyers have been asked to advise on an action with debatable ethics, according to research by UCL. The research, published in a new report ' Which way is the wind blowing? Understanding the moral compass of in-house legal counsel' also found that 39% of in-house lawyers had been asked to advise on something which was potentially illegal.

The system in place under the Mental Health Act that places decision-making powers in the hands of the nearest relatives for people who are sectioned needs to be extended to others to improve patient choice, according to new research. The study, from academics at the universities of Bath, Bristol and the University of the West of England published in the journal Health & Social Care in the Community , identifies challenges to the existing system and makes recommendations for policy-makers and practitioners.

Findings from the UK's largest mock jury research project to-date have been released. Commissioned by the Scottish Government, the research was led by Ipsos MORI Scotland, with the collaboration of School of Law academics Professor Fiona Leverick and Professor James Chalmers and the University of Warwick's Professor Vanessa Munro.

A law against possession of rape pornography, introduced in 2015, is very rarely used with few charges and prosecutions. This is what our researchers have found after analysing data obtained through a Freedom of Information request. Police focus The research shows that during 2015-2017 the vast majority (85 per cent) of extreme pornography charges were for possessing bestiality porn with only one per cent of charges for rape pornography.

The 116-page report, which promotes personal safety and crime prevention on campus, also provides crime statistics required under federal law. It is available online and in print. Stanford has released its 2019 Safety, Security & Fire Report , an annual publication that promotes personal safety and crime prevention on campus, and provides statistics about specified crimes that were reported during the 2018 calendar year.

Professor Ruth Morgan (UCL Security and Crime Science) writes about the misinterpretation of forensic evidence and the issues that this causes for the criminal justice system. Imagine you're in court, accused of a crime that you know you didn't commit. Now imagine a scientist takes the stand and starts explaining to the court how your DNA is on the murder weapon.

LGBTQI+ Muslims seeking asylum are more successful if they speak, dress and act in accordance with Western notions of homosexuality, according to a new study from the University of Bristol.

Countyand municipality-level bans on tobacco sales to individuals under age 21 yield substantive reductions in smoking among 18- to 20-year-olds, according to a new study from the Yale School of Public Health. Published online in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, the study examines how  "tobacco-21 laws" affect smoking among 18- to 20-year-olds residing in metropolitan/micropolitan statistical areas (MMSAs), which are clusters of adjacent counties that include an urban center with at least 10,000 residents.

A University of Sydney Law School researcher has argued that consorting laws reveal a new character of criminal responsibility in a research paper. In Australia, the crime of consorting differs slightly from state to state but the key element is the same. Knowingly associating with criminals (or being 'recklessly unaware of their identities') is still considered an offence.

UK designers are less likely to seek legal action if someone copies their work compared with the rest of Europe, according to new research. Experts at the University of Nottingham tested the effectiveness of design case law in the 28 member states of the EU. Among the big countries in the EU, the UK had some of the lowest numbers of cases brought to court per population, often with less favourable outcomes for designers.

Police at a crime scene in Leyton, east London after a man in his twenties was stabbed to death in March of this year. Credit: PA. Police at a crime scene in Leyton, east London after a man in his twenties was stabbed to death in March of this year. Credit: PA. Knife crime data from a 12-month period could be used to help forecast the London neighbourhoods most likely to suffer a fatal stabbing the following year, according to latest research.

A new University of Sydney study provides the most comprehensive picture of the patterns of hate crime in Australia to date. It has revealed the prevalence of race and religion-based hate crimes, and that people of Asian, Indian/Pakistani and Muslim backgrounds are the most frequent victims. Hate crime - also referred to as 'bias crime' - is crime that is motivated by prejudice, bias or hatred towards a presumed characteristic of the victim, such as race, religion, sexual orientation, disability status or gender identity.

A Stanford study released on March 13 in Marine Policy provides a new framework for coastal climate adaptation planning, with the potential to save local California governments money and protect the homes and livelihoods of coastal residents. The research incorporates a statewide assessment of the California coast's zoning, habitat, land use, and legal requirements into an interactive tool managers can use to identify which strategies best address threats along the coastline.