Dilan Thampapillai – författare

COVID-19 has forced a radical rethink of all areas of human interactions, not least those governed by contract law. Is contract law fit for purpose in the face of the challenges raised by the pandemic? How effective are its standard tools during these unprecedented times? In one of the first major comments on the response of private law to the crisis, this book argues that in order to retain its legitimacy, contract law must fundamentally realign around 5 key objectives. These are: (i) meeting the reasonable expectations of honest actors; (ii) protecting against windfall gains; (iii) keeping obligations within stated or defined boundaries; (iv) navigating the boundary between legitimate self-interest and exploitation and (v) protecting against the harm that comes from solemn and repeated promises not being honoured.

Taking a multidisciplinary approach, the contributors demonstrate the interplay between various research methods, and policy motivations, to show that law-based regulation and governance of AI is vital to efforts at ensuring justice, trust in administrative and contractual processes, and inclusive social cohesion in our increasingly technologically-driven societies. The book provides valuable insights on the new challenges posed by a rapid reliance on AI and big data, from data protection regimes around sensitive personal data, to blockchain and smart contracts, platform data reuse, IP rights and limitations, and many other crucial concerns for law’s interventions. The book also engages with concerns about the ‘surveillance society’, for example regarding contact tracing technology used during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The analytical approach provided will make this an excellent resource for scholars and educators, legal practitioners (from constitutional law to contract law) and policy makers within regulation and governance. The empirical case studies will also be of great interest to scholars of technology law and public policy. The regulatory community will find this collection offers an influential case for law’s relevance in giving institutional enforceability to ethics and principled design.