Volume 96

Karsten Thorn’s The Protection of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in International Private Law critically examines the legal challenges faced by SMEs in international transactions. The existing legal framework in international private law, designed to meet big companies' needs, frequently fails to offer adequate protection to SMEs, the structurally weaker party in B2B contracts compared with big companies, leaving them to face unfair practices and imbalanced contractual relationships.Thorn advocates for reforms in conflict of law and jurisdictional rules to safeguard SMEs, drawing parallels with existing protection frameworks. However, legislative disparities across countries—such as varying subcontractor protections in France and India—undermine uniform safeguards, creating inequitable outcomes. This review highlights the tension between equitable protection proposals and practical enforcement, summerizing the content of the book and trying to find a solution to protect SMEs.

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The exclusionary rule regarding character evidence for victims in sexual assault cases originated in the Anglo-American legal system and plays a significant role in protecting victims' legitimate rights and interests. However, China has long lacked clear regulations in this area. In many atypical sexual assault cases, victims face not only difficulties in obtaining legal protection but also secondary harms such as privacy violations. This dilemma is closely related to the challenges of proving non-consent in rape cases, insufficient theoretical support, and the influence of traditional social biases against victims of sexual assault. Internationally, the "Rape Shield Clause" in the U.S. Federal Rules of Evidence—based on the principle of exclusion with limited exceptions—offers valuable lessons. Drawing on this model, China can improve its theoretical framework for evidence rules, eliminate ideological prejudices, and establish an application model based on the principle of exclusion with defined exceptions. Such a localized rule system for character evidence in sexual assault cases would both protect victims' rights and promote factual clarity, thereby fostering true fairness and justice.

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This paper investigates the impact of veto power abuse on the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) ability to achieve the objectives outlined in the UN Charter, particularly the maintenance of international peace and security. It argues that the Council’s persistent dysfunction stems less from its membership structure than from the strategic misuse of veto power by its five permanent members (P5). Through legal interpretation, institutional analysis, and comparative case studies, the paper demonstrates that the veto has evolved from a collective safeguard into a political instrument that obstructs accountability and impedes humanitarian responses. Drawing on Articles 27(3), 31, 34, and 35 of the UN Charter, the study clarifies common misconceptions about membership inclusivity and shows that procedural participation is already available without structural expansion. It critically evaluates the limitations of expanding permanent membership and instead proposes institutional reforms that do not require Charter amendments. These include strengthening General Assembly oversight under Resolution 76/262, establishing a “Veto Accountability Index,” and restricting veto use in mass atrocity contexts. This paper ultimately contends that targeted, non-Charter-based reforms are not only more politically feasible but also essential to restoring the UNSC’s credibility and effectiveness in a rapidly evolving global order.

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The current international political landscape is characterized by accelerating multipolarity. The United States' imposition of additional tariffs and threats to withdraw from international agreements have exacerbated trade frictions with allies such as the European Union and triggered global supply chain disruptions. Meanwhile, the protracted Russia-Ukraine conflict, compounded by the strategic rivalry between the U.S. and Russia, has seen ceasefire negotiations hindered by divergent positions and shifting U.S. policy priorities. Against this backdrop of intertwined cooperation and competition, there is an urgent need to explore new coordination mechanisms to stabilize international relations and advance global peace. This study examines international conflict coordination mechanisms through the lens of fiscal synergy, focusing on China's mediation in the Saudi Arabia-Iran reconciliation as a case study. The research reveals that China leveraged economic cooperation initiatives, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, to strengthen bilateral economic interdependence between Saudi Arabia and Iran, thereby creating conditions for reconciliation. Concurrently, China employed fiscal transparency and trust-building mechanisms to facilitate dialogue and collaboration between the two parties. The findings demonstrate that fiscal synergy serves not only as a critical instrument for international economic cooperation but also as an effective tool for conflict resolution, offering innovative pathways to promote global peace and stability.

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Generative AI data training poses novel challenges to the doctrine of fair use in copyright law. While the "three-step test" can preliminarily justify the legitimacy of AI data training as fair use, it still faces deep-seated contradictions such as the disconnect between current legal frameworks and technological advancements, an overemphasis on "rights protection",and imbalances in copyright interests. Therefore, it is imperative to reform and innovate the fair use system. First and foremost, a copyright system centered on "fair use" should be established to break free from the constraints of "author centrism." In addition, a specific clause for "AI learning and creation" should be introduced to explicitly recognize data training as fair use. Furthermore, by integrating the four-factor test from U.S. copyright law, a general standard for assessing fair use should be established to balance copyright protection with technological development, thereby advancing the adaptation of copyright law to the demands of the digital era.

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With the rapid evolution of intelligent vehicle technology, autonomous driving systems have undeniably boosted traffic efficiency. Nevertheless, they have concurrently muddied the waters of accident liability determination. In the Current research lacks clarity in defining responsible entities, unifying technical standards, and ensuring data reliability, while lagging legal frameworks exacerbate industry uncertainties. This study focuses on accident liability determination for intelligent vehicles, leveraging an integration of black box technology and an autonomous driving level assessment system. Through case analysis (e.g., the Xu case in China), technical standard interpretation like GB44497-2024, and systematic framework construction, the research explores data-driven and legally coordinated approaches for liability allocation. Findings reveal that black box data serves as critical evidence but faces limitations in extreme weather, while the proposed L1-L5 assessment system clarifies responsibilities among manufacturers, software providers, and drivers. The study recommends refining product liability laws, developing tailored insurance products, and enhancing collaborative governance among governments, industries, and the public. Future research should address data reliability under extreme conditions and compatibility of international legal standards.

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The exchange of data across borders has become crucial for international commerce and technological progress. However, major differences in privacy principles and regulatory systems among China, the United States, and Europe have led to fragmented global data governance. This paper examines whether such institutional differences hinder the global economy. Through analysis of cases including Meta, TikTok, Microsoft, and Apple-Google, the study finds that these differences create data barriers, raise compliance costs, and limit cross-border collaboration. To address this, the paper proposes a multi-level coordination framework—international, regional, and national—to achieve equilibrium in data autonomy and international data exchange.

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The emergence of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, therefore presents seismic movements in the global politics, leading towards economic sanctions against Russia as a prominent mechanism in the conflict and diplomatic pressure among many. The sanctions would not only restrict economic activities in and out of Russia but also draw attention to the security of international commercial norms and dispute resolution mechanisms. Justifiably, commercial economic sanctions have recently played a growing critical role in transnational trade. The enterprises that come under sanctions face the dilemma of how to fulfill the contracts and agreements while under the sanctions. This paper tries to raise and discuss the issue of the validity of the international commercial arbitration clause and the arbitrability of the disputes in the background of the economic sanction. It will study through a case analysis the disputes related to the validity of the arbitration clause and the arbitrability of disputes under sanctions. A further approach of comparison is used to look into the different stands taken by diverse authorities on these issues. The work finds that though economic sanctions prove some difficulties, the independence of an arbitration clause, as well as the arbitrability principles, still continue to get wide support. In sanction conditions, arbitration is still an effective and proper method of resolving disputes.

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The issue of transparency in the arbitration procedures of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has long been a contentious matter. In particular, the provisions regarding the substantive participation of arbitrators and amicus curiae have led to the impairment of the public's right to information and public interests. This article focuses on exploring whether the current procedural rule reforms and their practical applications have potential problems that undermine the legitimacy, fairness, and authority of ICSID, and also conducts an in-depth exploration of strategies to alleviate these issues. Through a comprehensive review of academic literature and a systematic analysis of typical cases such as Mobil v. Venezuela and Philip Morris v. Uruguay, it is found that the ambiguity of some procedural rules has left the arbitration process lacking in effective supervision, and both enterprises and states have significant room for maneuver in information disclosure. To this end, this paper proposes that ICSID needs to further refine its existing legal framework, clearly define the participation standards and boundaries of responsibilities for arbitrators and amicus curiae. At the same time, an effective incentive mechanism should be established to provide policy support and reputation incentives to enterprises and governments that actively fulfill their transparency obligations. In this way, the negative impact of insufficient transparency on the fairness of arbitration can be reduced, and the healthy development of the international investment arbitration system can be promoted.

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This research aims to explore how to improve the United Nations' early warning, intervention, and conflict prevention capabilities in response to the outbreak of hot wars through multi-level institutional reforms. Through in-depth analysis of typical cases such as the Ukrainian crisis, the Rwandan genocide and the South Sudanese civil war, the research reveals the serious deficiencies of the traditional UN peacekeeping model in terms of intelligence sharing, decision-making mechanisms and resource allocation, and analyzes the legal and institutional challenges brought about by new hybrid wars and non-traditional conflicts. Based on theoretical and empirical research, this research proposes reform suggestions such as building an international legal framework that adapts to new conflicts, optimizing the Security Council's decision-making mechanism (including restricting the veto power and granting the Secretary-General emergency intervention authority), and building an efficient resource and intelligence sharing system. These suggestions not only focus on the supplementation and revision of legal provisions but also emphasize multilateral coordination at the political and technical levels, in order to provide practical and feasible institutional support for the United Nations to achieve "early warning, rapid intervention and strong execution" in global security governance. The research finally points out that future research should further focus on the application of new technologies in intelligence integration and risk prediction, as well as the actual effects of relevant international law revisions and political practices, so as to provide more systematic and in-depth theoretical support and practical guidance for the continuous improvement of UN peacekeeping operations.

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