Law in Emerging Contexts Research Group

The Law in Emerging Contexts Research Group brings together researchers working on law in emerging contexts, broadly defined. There are three main, and overlapping, themes within which members work: AI and Technology; Environment; and Outer Space. The research group considers the development of law and policy relating to these exciting and important areas in the broader context of society and politics to shape the law in these emerging contexts. Our research is interdisciplinary and cross-faculty, and engages with key issues for the future of law and society.

Themes:

AI and Technology
Environment
Outer Space

Related:

PROBabLE [TC1] Futures (Probabilistic AI Systems in Law Enforcement Futures) is a four-year, £3.4M RAi funded project led by Northumbria University and involving Glasgow, Northampton, Leicester, Aberdeen and Cambridge Universities and endeavours to deliver an ‘operational-ready’ blueprint of an evidence-based, contextually informed and future-oriented framework for responsible AI in law enforcement and criminal justice.

AHRC[TC2] -funded BRAID scoping project – ‘Ethical review to support responsible AI in policing: a preliminary study of West Midlands Police’s specialist data ethics review committee’ led by Professor Marion Oswald and Professor Gita Gill and partnering with the West Midlands PCC and West Midlands Police https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/academic-departments/northumbria-law-school/probable-futures/

NESST [TC3] (North East Space Skills and Technology Centre) will be a state of the art £50M facility developed by Northumbria, with investment from the UK Space Agency and the space and satellite division of industry giant Lockheed Martin. NESST will house world-leading space experts, and unite industry with academia, to transform the UK space economy.

Conveners: Professor Gita Gill gita.gill@northumbria.ac.uk and Professor Marion Oswald marion.oswald@northumbria.ac.uk

Research Opportunities: None at present

Recent Publications:

AI and Technology

Marion Oswald et al, ‘Exploring Police Perspectives on Algorithmic Transparency: A Qualitative Analysis of Police Interviews in the UK’ 30 October 2023: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3617694.3623246

Marion Oswald, Gita Gill, and Michael Stockdale, ‘Conquering the AI Safety Summit: why abandon previous expeditions?’ 19 October 2023. Available at: https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/news/conquering-the-ai-safety-summit-why-abandon-previous-expeditions/

Environment

Gita Gill, Environmental Public Hearings and Intersectionality: Women Voices from Gujarat, Journal of Law and Society (2024) 51(2) 163-188. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12476

Gita Gill, Climate Change and Indian Cities: Judicial Response through the lens of sustainability transformations, Climate Law, (2024) (2) 198-232. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1163/18786561-bja10051

Outer Space

Thomas Cheney, ‘The Extra-Planetary Mine: Space Mining as Continuity’ (2024) Environment and History 30(3). Available at: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/whp.eh.63830915903596

Thomas Cheney, ‘The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook’ - The Conversation – 17 April 2024. Available at: https://theconversation.com/the-rising-flood-of-space-junk-is-a-risk-to-us-on-earth-and-governments-are-on-the-hook-227583

Fabio Tronchetti, ‘China and the Moon’ Spacewatch Global (March 2024). Available at https://spacewatch.global/2024/03/spacewatchgl-geopolitics-china-and-the-moon/

Other

Graham Melling, ‘Has Russia Killed Article 2(4)? Evaluating the effectiveness of the prohibition of the use of force in the conduct of international affairs’, 25 San Diego Int'l L.J. (2024) 1. Available at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/ilj/vol25/iss1/2/

Graham Melling, ‘Evaluating the persisting relevance of the Uniting for Peace resolution for the maintenance of international peace and security: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Security Council Resolution 2623 (2022)’, International and Comparative Law Review, 22(1) (2023) 256. Available at: https://researchportal.northumbria.ac.uk/files/124756770/10.2478_iclr_2023_0011.pdf