If you are new to the INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEGAL INFORMATION (IJLI), please accept this hearty welcome! If you are a returning reader, welcome back! This issue of the IJLI contains some very interesting reading.
The lead article is by a return author, Hala Bou Alwan, whose first piece appeared in issue 46.3 (Winter 2018). Her present article is titled National Cyber Governance Awareness Policy and Framework. It's a perfect companion piece to her previous article, Policy Development and Frameworks for Cyber Security in Corporates and Law Firms. The new article focuses on cyber education at the national, government, and law enforcement levels, examining methodologies employed to help align the government, law enforcers, the private sector, and academic levels. It also reviews the “gaps in cyber laws and educational governance initiatives and their impact on efficient execution of cyber policies for various regions of the world with a focus on the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.” Alwan concludes with a set of recommended policy and compliance guidelines for better data security.
The next article in the lineup for this issue is The Role of Precedent and Stare Decisis in the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body, by Zachary Flowers. The author first provides a grounding in the historical fundamentals and use of precedent and the notion of stare decisis. He then applies that analysis to the regulatory framework of the World Trade Organization, with an emphasis on Article 3:2 of the DSU and Article IX:2 of the WTO Agreement. He explores these provisions and whether they actively permit or simply leave room for a system of binding precedent in WTO contexts. Flowers looks to cases involving Japan (alcoholic beverages), India (patents and automobiles), and Australia (plain packaging tobacco).
The final substantive piece in this issue is Tiptoeing the Line Between National Security and Protectionism: A Comparative Approach to Foreign Direct Investment Screening in the United States and European Union, by Jason Jacobs. This is a provocative piece. Jacobs makes a case that China has created “weaponized,” state-backed, foreign investments, which the author believes is an emerging national security threat in the United States and the European Union. He argues that “[t]he U.S. and E.U. have espoused similar policy goals—to address the threat without closing their markets to foreign direct investment—while fostering increased cooperation between allied partners in screening transactions.” Jacobs dives deeply into a comparison of U.S. and E.U. investment screening mechanisms. He exposes a critical difference between the E.U. and the U.S. as revealed in policy. He hopes this revelation will “temper expectations that the E.U. is equipping itself to block transactions that are of concern to the U.S.” This makes for fascinating reading.
In addition to the foregoing articles are the IJLI's two other important sections: the International Calendar, edited by Amy Flick, and Book Reviews, edited by Thomas Mills. I hope you enjoy this issue of the IJLI. It's packed full of really interesting and important material. Happy reading!
