Science and Technology Law Commons^™

Blockchain Land Transfers: Technology, Promises, And Perils, Vincent Ooi, Kian Peng Soh, Jerrold Soh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The blockchain’s apparent immutability has attracted significant interest on whether it may be relied on for registering and transferring land. Proponents of blockchain-based land systems point toward data security, automated transacting, and improved accessibility as key benefits; critics raise concerns over structural vulnerabilities, such as majority attacks, and inconsistencies with existing legal frameworks. The literature, however, tends to conceptualise blockchain as one monolithic data structure invariably built on the same mechanisms powering Bitcoin. This paper seeks to situate the debate on a closer understanding of the range of blockchain implementations possible. To this end, we provide a detailed technological survey …

Towards A Data-Driven Financial System: The Impact Of Covid-19, Nydia Remolina Leon

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has had a growing impact on the global economy and the financial sector. Given the unprecedented macroeconomic nature of the crisis, financial regulators and central banks, along with governments and legislatures, face challenges to maintain financial stability, preserve the core markets, and ensure the flow of credit to the real economy. The financial sector has not only implemented these measures but has also adapted to the new circumstances derived from the pandemic. In this process, the ongoing digital transformation of the financial industry helped to address some of the emerging challenges. Indeed, the digital financial …

Regulating Personal Data Usage In Covid-19 Control Conditions, Mark Findlay, Nydia Remolina

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Concern has been widely expressed about the potential for COVID-19 control technologies and resultant data sharing negatively impacting on civil rights, invading personal privacy, undermining citizen dignity through expansive data matching and ultimately providing opportunities for data use well beyond the brief of virus mitigation. This chapter offers suggestions regarding effective and inclusive regulatory responses when faced with extended surveillance, tracking/tracing, public/private provider data sharing and any breakdown in personal data firewalls, or otherwise conventional aggregated data deviations and distortion. In doing so, the chapter explores personal data usage in the context of COVID-19 as a regulatory enterprise. It addresses …

The Reasonableness Standard Of Compliance In The Singapore Personal Data Protection Act, Warren B. Chik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The “reasonableness test” establishes the threshold of compliance and accountability under the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act. This “open-ended” test is flexible enough to take into account and react to changes in the scope and uses of personal data to maintain an equilibrium between the interest of individuals in the protection of their personal information on the one hand and the needs of organisations for access to, and the use of, such data on the other. This article seeks to provide a better understanding of how the test works by comparing it to the objective and function of the fair …

Gauging The Acceptance Of Contact Tracing Technology: An Empirical Study Of Singapore Residents’ Concerns With Sharing Their Information And Willingness To Trust, Ee-Ing Ong, Wee Ling Loo

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments began implementing various forms of contact tracing technology. Singapore’s implementation of its contact tracing technology, TraceTogether, however, was met with significant concern by its population, with regard to privacy and data security. This concern did not fit with the general perception that Singaporeans have a high level of trust in its government. We explore this disconnect, using responses to our survey (conducted pre-COVID-19) in which we asked participants about their level of concern with the government and business collecting certain categories of personal data. The results show that respondents had less concern with …

Lexglue: A Benchmark Dataset For Legal Language Understanding In English, Ilias Chalkidis, Abhik Jana, Dirk Hartung, Michael Bommarito, Ion Androutsopoulos, Daniel Katz, Nikolaos Aletras

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Lawsandtheirinterpretations, legal arguments and agreements are typically expressed in writing, leading to the production of vast corpora of legal text. Their analysis, which is at the center of legal practice, becomes increasingly elaborate as these collections grow in size. Natural language understanding (NLU) technologies can be a valuable tool to support legal practitioners in these endeavors. Their usefulness, however, largely depends on whether current state-of-the-art models can generalize across various tasks in the legal domain. To answer this currently open question, we introduce the Legal General Language Understanding Evaluation (LexGLUE) benchmark, a collection of datasets for evaluating model performance across …

Crossing The Rubicon: Evaluating The Use Of Artificial Intelligence In The Law And Singapore Courts, Ming En Tor

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) has challenged many fundamental assumptions of how organisations and industries should operate. The Courts, traditionally seen as a hallowed ground graced by the best of lawyers, still remains as unchartered territory for AI’s infiltration. Yet, there is growing evidence which suggest AI may soon cross this frontier to replace important court functions.

This paper critically assesses the use of AI in law and the courts. Part II will first examine the arguments for and against the adoption of AI in the legal profession. Thereafter, Part III will critically examine whether AI should …

A Framework For Understanding The Taxation Of Digital Tokens, Vincent Ooi

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

As a relatively new area, the taxation of digital tokens can give rise to several dangerous misconceptions. This article lays out five propositions to counter these misconceptions: 1) digital tokens are not a single monolithic asset class attracting uniform tax treatment; 2) the common trichotomous division of digital tokens into payment, utility and security tokens is derived from securities regulation and should not be blindly adopted into tax law; 3) the three classes are not mutually exclusive and hybrid tokens may exist; 4) the fact that an asset is a digital token rarely changes its tax treatment by itself, which …

Taxation Of Automation And Artificial Intelligence As A Tool Of Labour Policy, Vincent Ooi, Glendon Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Rapid developments in automation technology pose a risk of mass displacement of human labour, resulting in the need to support and retrain displaced workers (a negative externality). We propose an “automation tax” that would slow the adoption of automation technology in appropriate circumstances, giving workers and social support systems time to adapt. This could be easily implemented through changes to the existing schedular system of depreciation/ capital allowances, reducing the uncertainty of its application and implementation costs. Such a system would be flexible enough to keep up with rapid technological developments. Two main dimensions may be adjusted to produce intended …

Contracts Formed By Software: An Approach From The Law Of Mistake, Vincent Ooi

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

A ‘Contracting Problem’ arises when software is used to autonomously enter into contracts without human input. Questions arise as to how and whether there can be an expression of an objective intention to be legally bound. This article considers three leading solutions to the Contracting Problem. The ‘Mere Tools Theory’, which views software as ‘mere tools’ of communication, is too harsh as it binds users to any software malfunction. The Agency Approach, which treats software as Electronic Agents, capable of contracting on behalf of their users, is untenable as it ascribes unrealistic characteristics to software. The article submits that the …

Towards A Calibrated Trust-Based Approach To The Use Of Facial Recognition Technology, Gary Kok Yew Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The use of facial recognition technology has given rise to much debate relating to issues concerning privacy infringements, bias and inaccuracies of data and outputs, possibilities of covert use, the lack of data security and the problem of function creep. Certain states and jurisdictions have called for bans and moratoria on the use of facial recognition technology. This paper argues that a blanket ban on facial recognition technology would be overly precautionary without fully considering the wide range of uses and benefits of the innovation. To promote its acceptance, trust in facial recognition technology should be developed in a calibrated …

The Diffusion Of The Sandbox Approach To Disruptive Innovation And Its Limitations, Chang-Hsien Tsai, Ching-Fu Lin, Han-Wei Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Faced with the challenges posed by disruptive technologies and innovations, many countries have adopted different regulatory approaches, institutional structures, and norms to maximize benefits and mitigate risks. Among such regulatory endeavors, the regulatory sandbox, first adopted by the United Kingdom in its financial sector, stands out as a prominent mechanism to strike a balance between promoting technological innovations and ensuring market order. Given the promises of the regulatory sandbox, there has been a gradual embrace of this approach by governments across continents, arguably indicating a global norm diffusion. There is also a trans-governmental endeavor to facilitate cooperation among regulators and …

The Promises And Perils Of Robo-Advisers: Challenges And Regulatory Approaches, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez, Wai Yee Wan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Artificial intelligence is changing the operation and business model of many intermediaries in financial markets. Investing through online automated platforms, known as robo-advisers, is becoming very popular worldwide. In fact, some studies estimate that robo-advisers will be managing USD 4.6 trillion by 2022. This chapter analyses the promises and perils of robo-advice, as well as the challenges and regulatory responses adopted in various countries and regions around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Singapore. It will conclude by showing that, despite the existence of various legal and challenges …

Trust In And Ethical Design Of Carebots: The Case For Ethics Of Care, Gary Kok Yew Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The paper has two main objectives: to examine the challenges arising from the use of carebots as well as to discuss how the design of carebots can deal with these challenges. First, it notes that the use of carebots to take care of the physical and mental health of the elderly, children and the disabled as well as to serve as assistive tools and social companions encounter a few main challenges. They relate to the extent of the care robots’ ability to care for humans, potential deception by robot morphology and communications, (over)reliance on or attachment to robots, and the …

Measuring Law Over Time: A Network Analytical Framework With An Application To Statutes And Regulations In The United States And Germany, Corinna Coupette, Janis Beckedorf, Dirk Hartung, Michael Bommarito, Daniel Martin Katz

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

How do complex social systems evolve in the modern world? This question lies at the heart of social physics, and network analysis has proven critical in providing answers to it. In recent years, network analysis has also been used to gain a quantitative understanding of law as a complex adaptive system, but most research has focused on legal documents of a single type, and there exists no unified framework for quantitative legal document analysis using network analytical tools. Against this background, we present a comprehensive framework for analyzing legal documents as multi-dimensional, dynamic document networks. We demonstrate the utility of …

Quantitative Legal Research In Germany, Dirk Hartung

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This chapter positions quantitative legal research in Germany, where it is a relatively new discipline, within the country’s greater legal academic landscape. The early stage of the discipline makes Germany particularly interesting for international scholars and open to a global academic dialogue. In addition, as the discipline is still young, the discourse is still open to influence from a global community. The following discussion argues for better access to legal data and tries to save researchers from pitfalls such as high fees for or dubious providers of legal data. It encourages the compilation of comprehensive, rich, well-documented and open source …

Digital Readiness Index For Arbitration Institutions: Challenges And Implications For Dispute Resolution Under The Belt And Road Initiative, Allison Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Post-COVID-19, a paradigm shift has occurred in the adoption of technology in arbitration. Leading arbitral institutions have adapted quickly, highlighting the foresight of institutions who have existing technological infrastructure in place. This article proposes a ‘Digital Readiness Index’, which aims to evaluate arbitral institutions on their level of digital readiness based on five evaluative indicators. Cross referenced against Institute for Management Development (IMD’s) 2019 World Digital Competitiveness Rankings, the findings reveal synergies between an economy’s digital competitiveness and the adoption of technology in dispute resolution. To further the development of dispute resolution processes under the Belt and Road Initiative, strategic …

Protection Of And Access To Relevant Data: General Issues, Kung-Chung Liu, Shufeng Zheng

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This chapter discusses the protection of relevant data and issues that might block access to such data. For the purpose of this chapter there are at least three kinds of data, data specifically generated for the purpose of AI the big data, and copyright protected data, each having its unique issues concerning protection and access. This chapter comes to the conclusions: Data specifically generated for AI should qualify as works worthy of copyright protection as compilations. If such data are public sector information, measures that may facilitate the widest re-uses of public data should be taken. If such data are …

Recalibrating Directors’ Liabilities Amidst Technological Flux, Pey Woan Lee, Susanna Leong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In this chapter, we consider how to balance corporate innovation and personal liability in the specific context of directors’ exposure to personal liability for corporate copyright infringements. Directors may incur personal liability in the statutory context if they have ‘authorised’ the company’s infringement, or at common law if they acted as the company’s joint tortfeasor. Due to the conflicting policy goals of encouraging innovation whilst preserving personal accountability, we observe that this regime is unsatisfactory. Delving into the modern history of copyright law, we seek to demonstrate that directors of technological companies operate in an environment of high legal uncertainty …

Towards A Control-Centric Account Of Tort Liability For Automated Vehicles, Jerrold Tsin Howe Soh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Existing motor vehicle accident laws are generally described as ‘driver-centric’, since regulatory, liability, and insurance obligations revolve around drivers. This is sometimes taken to imply that they cannot apply to automated vehicles. This article seeks to re-centre the liability discussion around the tortious doctrine of control. It argues centrally that properly understanding legal control as influence over metaphysical risks, rather than physical objects, clarifies that automated vehicles are both legally controllable in theory, despite having no human drivers, and legally controlled in practice, despite their reliance on machine learning. Examining today’s automated driving technology and businesses, this article demonstrates how …

Tax Law And The Digital Economy In Singapore, Vincent Ooi

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This chapter is divided into three main parts: 1) international tax law, 2) domestic tax law, and 3) tax and regulation. The first part deals with the international tax system and the way it has been affected by technology. This part will focus on income tax. Existing rules of nexus, characterisation of income and treatment of data are increasingly being challenged, leading to changes in the OECD Model Convention and the implementation of the Base Erosion and Profits Shifting (“BEPS”) project. These in turn have had a considerable impact on Singapore tax law, as Singapore is an active participant in …

Complex Societies And The Growth Of The Law, Daniel Martin Katz, Corinna Coupette, Janis Beckedorf, Dirk Hartung

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

While many informal factors influence how people interact, modern societies rely upon law as a primary mechanism to formally control human behaviour. How legal rules impact societal development depends on the interplay between two types of actors: the people who create the rules and the people to which the rules potentially apply. We hypothesise that an increasingly diverse and interconnected society might create increasingly diverse and interconnected rules, and assert that legal networks provide a useful lens through which to observe the interaction between law and society. To evaluate these propositions, we present a novel and generalizable model of statutory …

International Moots And The Demands Of Modern Legal Practice: Relooking The Role Of Firms, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The demands of modern legal practice are such that the young law graduate is expected to be as practice-prepared as possible right off the bat: able to analyse, research, draft, write, advise, and even advocate on complex issues that do not always present clear demarcations in doctrines, jurisdictions, and cultures – and this is without mentioning other important soft skills required to thrive in practice. International moot competitions used to be the main means to bridge the school-versus-practice and theory-versus-application divides, but that landscape has transformed radically in the past decade. Considering too the competitiveness of the legal market today …

The State Of Legal Innovation In Asia-Pacific 2020, Jerrold Soh, Kok Thong Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This year's report is the second in two years and contains a number of substantial improvements. Most significantly, it has expanded to cover Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, and the Philippines, providing a fascinating look at legal technology and innovation in these important yet perhaps overlooked APAC jurisdictions.

Rethinking Mistake In The Age Of Algorithms: Quoine Pte Ltd V B2c2 Ltd, Vincent Ooi, Kian Peng Soh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Good traders remove emotion from the decision-making process. Automated trading algorithms have enabled this, allowing one to trade round the clock, and without the constant need to monitor one’s investments. But software has gremlins. Given the vast amounts of money involved in such trades, it was only a matter of time before disputes involving automated trading software came before the courts. The decision in Quoine v B2C2 (“Quoine”) represents the first time an apex court in the Commonwealth has ruled on the applicability of contractual principles to situations involving automated trading software.

Reflections On The Use Of Facial Recognition Technology During Covid-19, Gary Kok Yew Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

During the COVID-10 pandemic, infected persons have been quarantined in segregated facilities. Individuals who have been in contact with the infected persons may be subject to self-isolation measures or stay-home notices. Technological tools such as proximity and contact tracing apps are used to identify those who have been in close contact with infected persons. The contact tracing QR code used in Singapore's SafeEntry requires the submission of personal information (including names and identification numbers) prior to entry into certain public places such as malls, factories and restaurants. Robots, in addition to designated human officers, have been delpoyed to maintain social …

Coronavirus: Pandemics, Artificial Intelligence And Personal Data: How To Manage Pandemics Using Ai And What That Means For Personal Data Protection, Warren B. Chik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This chapter discusses the hearing of essential and urgent court matters in the Singapore courts during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 27 march 2020, the Singapore judiciary notified courst users that remote hearings were to be implemented for certain types of hearings by means of video and telephone conferencing facilities. Court users were also provided with indicative lists of matters which might be considered essential and urgent.

Ethics, Rule Of Law And Pandemic Responses, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In their report ‘The Rule of Law in Times of Health Crises’404 Julinda Beqiraj, Jean-Pierre Gauci and Nyasha Weinberg identified certain conditions under which rule of law adherence can contribute to an effective pandemic response.

Coronavirus: Pandemics, Artificial Intelligence And Personal Data: How To Manage Pandemics Using Ai And What That Means For Personal Data Protection, Warren B. Chik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This chapter discusses the hearing of essential and urgent court matters in the Singapore courts during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 27 march 2020, the Singapore judiciary notified courst users that remote hearings were to be implemented for certain types of hearings by means of video and telephone conferencing facilities. Court users were also provided with indicative lists of matters which might be considered essential and urgent.

An Ecosystem Approach To Ethical Ai And Data Use: Experimental Reflections, Mark Findlay, Josephine Seah

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

While we have witnessed a rapid growth of ethics documents meant to guide artificial intelligence (AI) development, the promotion of AI ethics has nonetheless proceeded with little input from AI practitioners themselves. Given the proliferation of AI for Social Good initiatives, this is an emerging gap that needs to be addressed in order to develop more meaningful ethical approaches to AI use and development. This paper offers a methodology-a 'shared fairness' approach-aimed at identifying AI practitioners' needs when it comes to confronting and resolving ethical challenges and to find a third space where their operational language can be married with …