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In the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of people facing criminal proceedings related to the traditional use of the coca leaf in Spain. The profile of the defendants, in general, is similar: a migrant person, coming from a country where the traditional and cultural use of the coca leaf is widespread and legal, with few resources and contacts in Spain, and with little knowledge of the criminal justice system. The penalty requests they face are disproportionate, taking into account that they usually involve small quantities of leaves, intended for personal and traditional use. For a decade, the NGO International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS) has offered support to the legal defence of people facing charges for the traditional use of the coca leaf. This paper aims to offer a general overview and analysis of this work, within the framework of which the authors have deployed various arguments for the defence: the historical error represented by the international (and national) prohibition of the coca leaf, the frictions with the rights of migrants, as well as the questioning of the toxicological analysis methods that accompany the opening of these procedures.

This work is based on the analysis of the information contained in ICEERS’ database and the rulings of both the first instance courts and the Supreme Court. It includes, among other issues, the characteristics of these cases and some trends that the authors have identified. Based on this, some recommendations are offered for better political and judicial management of this social phenomenon.

The efforts by the authors have made possible the considerable reduction of some sentences, as well as greater understanding by justice system operators about the phenomenon of coca leaf traditional uses beyond native contexts. However, it is necessary to complement this work with a more political and international strategy within the debates on drug policy reform. Along with a review of the scientific evidence by the WHO, which adjusts the international control of coca leaf to the reality of the knowledge currently available, greater dialogue with affected communities and the involvement of governments of the countries of origin of the defendants are essential. This could be achieved through the involvement of the consulates or representatives of these communities in Spain, as well as by opening a space in the bilateral agendas. Finally, there is an urgent need for recognition by the international community that the traditional uses of psychoactive plants are no longer limited to certain geographies or populations, but are part of the collective knowledge of an interconnected world.

This paper is based on the authors’ own experience of more than ten years accompanying the defence of these type of cases.

This chapter focuses on the US Civil War of 1861–1864, the application of the laws of war to a civil war, and gives great attention to US Army General Order 100 (aka The Lieber Code), the first set of laws to direct and constrain the behavior of troops in the field.

Intellectual property (IP) theft is an increasing threat that can lead to large financial losses and reputational harm. These attacks are typically noticed only after the IP is stolen, which is usually too late. This paper aims to investigate the psychological profile and the socio-technical events that statistically predict the likelihood of an IP threat.

This paper analyses 86 IP theft cases found in court documents. Two novel analyses are conducted. The research uses LLMs to analyse the personality of these insiders, which is followed by an investigation of the pathways to the attack using behaviour sequence analysis (BSA).

These IP theft insiders scored significantly higher on measures of Machiavellianism compared to the normal population. Socio-technical variables, including IP theft via photographs, travelling overseas, approaching multiple organisations and delivering presentations, were identified. Contrary to previous assumptions that there is a single pathway to an attack, the authors found that multiple, complex pathways lead to an attack (sometimes multiple attacks). This work, therefore, provides a new framework for considering critical pathways to insider attacks.

These findings reveal that IP theft insiders may come across as charming, star employees rather than the stereotype of disgruntled employees. Moreover, organisations’ policies may need to consider that IP theft occurs via non-linear and multiple pathways. This means that sequences of events need to be considered in detecting these attacks instead of anomalies outright. The authors also argue that there may be a case for “continuous evaluation” to detect insider activity.

This paper offers a new framework for understanding and studying insider threats. Instead of a single critical pathway, this work demonstrates the need to consider multiple interconnected pathways. It elucidates the importance of a multidisciplinary approach and provides opportunities to reconsider current practices in detection and prevention.

This chapter discusses the creation, structure, and functioning of the International Criminal Court. It also examines its operations to date and addresses many contemporary criticisms of the court.

Organizations remain a vital sociological topic, but organizational sociology, as a subfield, has evolved significantly since its inception. In this paper, I argue that organization sociology is becoming increasingly disconnected from organizational theory, as currently conceived. The focus of sociological research on organizations has become more empirically grounded in the study of social problems and how organizations contribute to them. Sociologists continue to see organizations as important actors in society that play a role in shaping social order and as contexts in which social processes play out. I propose two main sociological approaches for organizational research, which I describe as “organizations within society” and “society within organizations.” The first approach examines the role of organizations as building blocks of social structure and as social actors in their own right. The second approach treats organizations as platforms and locations of social interactions and the building of community. These approaches are somewhat disconnected from the sort of grand theorizing that characterizes much of organizational theory. I argue that the problem-oriented sociology of these two approaches offers a vital way for organizational scholars to expand and theoretically revitalize the field.

The impact of extreme heat on prisons and carceral facilities is becoming increasingly visible, yet remains overlooked by scholars, practitioners and policymakers. Prisons are a unique type of infrastructure designed to severely limit and control the movement of hundreds and even thousands of individuals as a form of punishment. This leads to many significant challenges to mitigating the risk of heat-related illness in prisons and other carceral spaces that have remained overlooked across many disciplines including emergency management, disasters, corrections and public health.

For this study, we analyzed 192 surveys from incarcerated persons in state prisons throughout Texas to understand how incarceration and the punitive prison environment create challenges to managing extreme heat in prisons.

We found that characteristics of modern incarceration, including communal distribution of resources, crowded conditions and a lack of agency for incarcerated people, create barriers to accessing resources during periods of extreme heat. Furthermore, the punitive nature of the prison environment as manifested in the relationship between staff and incarcerated persons and certain prison policies also create barriers to incarcerated persons accessing resources to reduce their risk of heat-related illness and death.

These issues are particularly relevant to the health and safety of incarcerated persons during periods of extreme temperatures but also speak broadly to the implications of incarceration, disaster risk, and the advancement of human rights for incarcerated people.

This article addresses a gap in the literature by including the perspectives of persons incarcerated in Texas prisons experiencing extreme heat and implicates the characteristics of incarceration and punishment in the production of disaster risk.

Critical examination of Bangladeshi laws related to workers’ rights in the garment industry. This paper aims to examine the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the protection of garment workers’ rights in Bangladesh, analyzing how international investment practices influence labor standards and the overall well-being of workers in the garment industry.

In this study, qualitative and analytical methods has been used to analyze legal frameworks related to labor rights in Bangladesh and BITs.

The findings indicate a need to strengthen the current legal framework to better protect workers' rights in Bangladesh. The study also provides recommendations for the relevant authorities to improve the existing laws.

Novel idea critically evaluating the Bangladeshi legal framework in the context of foreign direct investment and implications for worker's rights.

The study aims to identify the practical borders of AI legal personality and accountability in human-centric services.

Using a framework tailored for AI studies, this research analyses structured interview data collected from auditors based in Poland.

The study identified new constructs to complement the taxonomy of arguments for AI legal personality: cognitive strain, consciousness, cyborg paradox, reasoning replicability, relativism, AI misuse, excessive human effort and substitution.

The insights presented herein are primarily derived from the perspectives of Polish auditors. There is a need for further exploration into the viewpoints of other key stakeholders, such as lawyers, judges and policymakers, across various global contexts.

The findings of this study hold significant potential to guide the formulation of regulatory frameworks tailored to AI applications in human-centric services. The proposed sui generis AI personality institution offers a dynamic and adaptable alternative to conventional legal personality models.

The outcomes of this research contribute to the ongoing public discourse on AI’s societal impact. It encourages a balanced assessment of the potential advantages and challenges associated with granting legal personality to AI systems.

This paper advocates for establishing a sui generis AI personality institution alongside a joint accountability model. This dual framework addresses the current uncertainties surrounding human, general AI and super AI characteristics and facilitates the joint accountability of responsible AI entities and their ultimate beneficiaries.