James Camilleri | University of Malta (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by James Camilleri

It would be sensationalistic to relegate the Internet and its World Wide Web to being a breeding ... more It would be sensationalistic to relegate the Internet and its World Wide Web to being a breeding ground of illicit and possibly evil activity. It is closer to the truth to acknowledge that information and communication technology (ICT), on which the Internet and consequently the World Wide Wed rides, is all-pervading. Technology is a tool and the Internet serves a purpose which due to its diffusion is availed of by people from all walks of life. This comprises those bent on carrying out practices which, in one form or another, range from the intentionally vicious to the outright criminal.

University of Malta, 2017

The requirement of causa for the validity of a contract is often criticized as broad, vague, unpr... more The requirement of causa for the validity of a contract is often criticized as broad, vague, unpredictable and old-fashioned. Since it was introduced in the Code Napoléon, many countries adopted it but eventually abandoned it for other concepts. The latest civil law country to do so is France itself from where it originally started. Malta is one of the few countries remaining that has not considered re-modernising its contract law. Causa is analysed in the context of contract law and how its presence cannot be brushed aside. Next, the reform of the French government in contract law is analysed in detail to understand the lengths the reform has gone to in order to remove the term cause from the Civil Code while still retaining the spirit of causa. Finally, causa is analysed from the perspective of Maltese Civil Law and what may be the reaction of the Maltese legislator to the reforms undergone in France.

The digital revolution is unstoppable and is permeating every aspect of life. Thus, it was only a... more The digital revolution is unstoppable and is permeating every aspect of life. Thus, it was only a question of time before it would enter the financial realm of securities. This has created the concept of security tokens and STOs – an upshot of the rise to popularity of ICOs. Inheriting the ground-breaking qualities of DLT-based technologies, security tokens present novel regulatory challenges when compared to traditional securities. It is possible to assimilate security tokens to various EU laws, but existing regulatory gaps will debilitate the powers of the blockchain. The overhaul of the securities market is that security tokens can, inter alia, be more cost-effective and less time-consuming. These benefits mean that security tokens cannot be, for all intents and purposes, identical to their traditional counterparts. With ongoing developments, the technology to reap these benefits is already out there. Maintaining traditional regulatory frameworks is right and fitting but technological advancements call for the review of such checks and balances – not as a form of deregulation but as a means of incorporating change. The financial regulatory authority that denounces new forms of innovation as a threat to the system is a thing of the past, yet it may have certain reservations for the sake of public safety. Rather than established financial regulators trying to reinvent themselves to new technologies, it is easier for a specialised entity to take onboard the supervision of a new sector of the market that is inherently different from traditional ones. On these lines, the vision of a Digital Lab, as suggested by France’s AMF, would be to have a supranational entity to cater for STOs and other innovative technologies and collaborate with existing financial supervisory authorities.

It has often been stated that there is an urgent need for a reassessment of the nature of legal s... more It has often been stated that there is an urgent need for a reassessment of the nature of legal services and the manner these are provided. As new Legal Practitioner setting up an office in Malta and / or in any other EU Member State, would you consider reviewing how legal services are currently provided and how you propose to provide them differently?"

The European Convention of Human Rights ('ECHR') and the European Union ('EU') are both products ... more The European Convention of Human Rights ('ECHR') and the European Union ('EU') are both products of a postwar era that was characterised by a reconciliatory landscape. The war crimes committed during the Second World War, in Europe perhaps most notably by the Nazi regime, revealed the fragility of human nature, and the lessons learnt from modern war, together with the previous prevalent attitude of leaving human rights protection to the individual nation states demonstrated an increasing need to preserve global peace, security, and human dignity by ensuring that the European community of states committed to respect universal human rights through the establishment of the human rights protection system spearheaded by the Council of Europe, then recently established after the Hague Congress of 1948. This same Hague Congress also proposed the creation of a European customs and economic union, later coming to be known as the European Coal and Steel Community ('ECSC'). It was hoped that the pooling of coal and steel production would provide common foundations for economic development, rendering any war between European states " not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible ". 1 Thereby, the signing in 1950 of both the ECHR and the Treaty of Paris led to the creation of, on the one hand, what is considered by several scholars to be the most successful system of formal human rights guarantees in the world today, and on the other, a global power in the form of a political and economic union of 28 Member States. The current status of the EU with respect to the ECHR may however be somewhat unclear, even to reasoned observers, and has been the subject of countless papers and discussions in legal circles, to such an extent that the possible eventual accession of the EU has been said to: " unfortunately deprive academics and lawyers involved in the legal circle of one of their favourite topics of discussion ". 2 This paper seeks to shed light on the status quo of the EU vis-à-vis its accession to the ECHR, particularly in the light of developments which have taken place in this regard since the question of accession was first brought to the table by the European Commission in 1979.

Drafts by James Camilleri

An ACT to provide for the protection of victims of dysfunctional families, particularly, in the c... more An ACT to provide for the protection of victims of dysfunctional families, particularly, in the context of the protection of victims of abuse erpetrated amongst siblings or same-gender partners and of victims of abuse towards the elderly and the abuse towards parents by their children.

The affinity of the European Union towards human rights has made it well-suited to legislate in t... more The affinity of the European Union towards human rights has made it well-suited to legislate in the areas of confidentiality, integrity and availability of data within the information and communication technology sphere. The General Data Protection Regulation, the Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications, and the Directive on Electronic Commerce can testify to the positive impact of the European Union in this industry. This in turn has also benefitted the cybersecurity realm.

Due to the intrinsic, cultural and historical elements of the gambling industry, EU harmonisation... more Due to the intrinsic, cultural and historical elements of the gambling industry, EU harmonisation has not yet been achieved; excluding the possibility to draft a Regulation or Directive. Instead, a more ‘soft law’ approach was sought out in the form of a Recommendation on Principles for the Protection of Consumers and Players of Online Gambling Services and the Prevention of Minors from Gambling. Even this was met with strong opposition, particularly by the Kingdom of Belgium seeking annulment in the Court of Justice of the European Union of the legal instrument drafted by the European Commission.

The creation of the European System of Financial Supervision was an important step forward both f... more The creation of the European System of Financial Supervision was an important step forward both for the European Union and for the financial services industry. It is a reaction to the 2008 global financial crisis and offers a flexible mode of governance. The banking union was subsequently attached to the original framework. The question is whether this mode of governance can stand the test of time.

University of Malta, 2017

At a European level the consumer already has a substantial amount of protection. The Digital Cont... more At a European level the consumer already has a substantial amount of protection. The Digital Content Directive seems to offer an additional specialised form of European consumer protection. It is understood the purpose of the Directive is the harmonisation of European contract law in the field of digital content. The reason, however, why the European Union legislator is preferring to go for the harmonisation of areas of contract law is that it would be too great a feat to hope for the general
harmonisation of European contract law.

Tracing the history of company law within the EU is an outline of the relevant pieces of legislat... more Tracing the history of company law within the EU is an outline of the relevant pieces of legislation churned out by the European Parliament and Council. That apart, the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is also important. Before joining the EU, Malta looked up to British company law as a source of inspiration. Nowadays, this is no longer the case.

A concentration is implemented by a transaction which, in whole or in part, in fact or in law, co... more A concentration is implemented by a transaction which, in whole or in part, in fact or in law, contributes to the change in control of the target undertaking. Imagine a racing competition were an athlete starts the race before the official signal, which classically was given by the firing of a gun and one will appreciate why the standstill obligation also goes by the name of gun jumping.

With ongoing developments, the technology to reap these benefits is already out there. Maintaining traditional regulatory frameworks is right and fitting but technological advancements call for the review of such checks and balances – not as a form of deregulation but as a means of incorporating change. The financial regulatory authority that denounces new forms of innovation as a threat to the system is a thing of the past, yet it may have certain reservations for the sake of public safety. Rather than established financial regulators trying to reinvent themselves to new technologies, it is easier for a specialised entity to take onboard the supervision of a new sector of the market that is inherently different from traditional ones. On these lines, the vision of a Digital Lab, as suggested by France’s AMF, would be to have a supranational entity to cater for STOs and other innovative technologies and collaborate with existing financial supervisory authorities.

Computers and emotions, up to this day, do not seem to have anything in common. Machines are assu... more Computers and emotions, up to this day, do not seem to have anything in common. Machines are assumed to be cold and insensitive and yet, considering that people spend a substantial part of their lives in front of computers, this is very unfortunate. Imagine discussing movies with your computer. The dream of articulate machines is so strong, nonetheless over half a century after the invention of the first data processing machines it remains just a dream. Therefore, having a conversation with a computer about the latest James Bond movie, as one would with a friend or a colleague, is excluded. A computer cannot watch a movie, as is colloquially intended, in the first place. However, take the case of a person who reads various articles and reviews about a certain film. Even though he has never watched the film he may still have gathered enough information to form an opinion about it. This information may be gathered from magazines, newspapers and books; however, most of it is readily available on the Web. Besides on the Web it is possible to find ancillary types of information, such as forums where users share their views with each other.
Computers are excellent at manipulating data; in fact it is what they do best. With today’s technology such programs exist that can crawl the Web and collect data based on specific criteria. They are called Web crawlers and are commonplace. So far so good, a computer connected to the Internet has access to the necessary information and can use a Web crawler to gather it. But how can a machine convert that information into the knowledge required to form an opinion about a movie? The types of facts needed to interpret a given text have been thoroughly investigated. This report does not attempt to implement them in their full entirety – nobody has so far. Instead, on the principle of divide and conquer, a portion of these findings is tackled here that concentrates on the expressiveness of adjectives.
Although taking into account such a small segment may sound rather limited the intent here is not of producing machines that can read a document and wholly comprehend it but rather of an application that can filter documents based on two opposing factors: positive and negative sentiments.