Journal of Politics and Law, Issue: Vol.19, No.3

An Enquiry into Drug Dealers’ Wealth

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 02:38:28 +0000

The war on drugs is not going well, but calls to legalize drugs are premature. Consequences for public health would be grim, and public order will hardly improve, because current criminal organizations will diversify their business, and just carry on.

An addition to current repression of the drug business is worth trying: to break up the drug economy by confiscating its profits. Reverse the burden of proof in administrative and tax law that suspicious property has legitimate origins and financing, with all taxes being fully paid and on time. That procedural remedy can be used in addition to current ways of repression, which hopefully can be scaled back eventually. The Treasury will benefit.

Reversing the burden of proof is the practical thing to do, because it is efficacious, simple, civilized, and non-violent, but confiscatory justice will draw opposition from vested interests and guardians of the rule of law, who presently shield a drug economy that unleashes horrors beyond measure.

All That Glitters: Australia's Anti-Money Laundering Regime and the Art Market

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 04:02:33 +0000

Australia's Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2024 (Cth), effective 1 July 2026, extends the national AML/CTF regime to designated non-financial businesses and professions. While art dealers are not expressly targeted by the reforms, the statutory definitions give rise to significant interpretive challenges at the intersection of art law and the regulatory framework, with potentially far-reaching consequences for the art market. This article critically examines three such challenges: the historical artist versus artisan distinction embedded in the legislation's reference to "goldsmith's or silversmith's wares"; the functional classification of objects that straddle the boundary between fine art and decorative art; and the degree of physical attachment required for an artwork to constitute a "precious product" by virtue of its material composition. The article further considers the extension of the regime to virtual assets, including non-fungible tokens, and its implications for digital art transactions. It concludes that the current definitional framework risks producing arbitrary regulatory outcomes, capturing certain art objects while excluding others of comparable money laundering risk, and recommends that art market participants adopt a precautionary compliance approach (including robust know your client procedures and readiness to satisfy designated services obligations) pending further regulatory guidance from AUSTRAC.

Bridging the Data Gap: Regulating AI and Data Flows in the U.S.-China Trade Conflict

Tue, 19 May 2026 05:19:02 +0000

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and cross-border data flows has exposed significant doctrinal, institutional, and geopolitical gaps in the multilateral trading system, especially acutely in the U.S.-China trade conflict. This paper examines how AI and data are currently regulated under the WTO framework, specifically GATS, TRIPS, and the SCM Agreement, and analyses how divergent models of digital capitalism in the United States and China create structural tensions over state-owned enterprises, industrial subsidies, and national security exceptions. Drawing on doctrinal analysis of WTO jurisprudence and comparative treatment of regional instruments such as the CPTPP, USMCA, and RCEP, the paper argues that plurilateral soft-law undertakings within the WTO offer a viable legal mechanism to bridge regulatory divergence without demanding treaty amendment or regulatory convergence. The paper further contends that the viability of such undertakings depends on three complementary institutional features: non-adjudicatory oversight mechanisms, substantive engagement with conflicting conceptions of digital sovereignty, and mandatory sunset review clauses. Absent such institutional reform, soft-law undertakings risk becoming aspirational statements that legitimize continued friendshoring and unilateral action, accelerating fragmentation of the multilateral trading system.

The Overrated Role of Nationalism

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:51:18 +0000

Nationalism in its later form became current in Europe in the aftermath of the First World War. Only after the end of the Second World War social scientists began to analyse its background and meaning more systematically leaving the nationalist dogma of Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco for a rational analysis. Ernest Gellner and Benedict Anderson from different angles brought new light in the understanding of nationalism. Fascism had tried to make nation directly linked to the state. Especially Anderson analysed nationalism as a phenomenon separate from the state. However, traces of the fascist ideology have been brought to new life in the last two decades.

Concrete Rights: How “Art-in-Architecture” Tests Australia’s Moral Right to Integrity

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 06:33:57 +0000

Australia's growing investment in art-in-architecture ("AIA") - site-specific artworks conceived in dialogue with the built environment - raises under-examined questions about the protection of artists' moral rights, particularly the right to integrity under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). This article critically examines the statutory framework governing derogatory treatment under sections 195AI and 195AK of the Act, including notice procedures and exceptions applicable to works affixed to buildings and moveable artistic works, and considers how the property law distinction between fixtures and chattels informs their application. Drawing on Perez v Fernandez [2012] FMCA 2, the only substantial Australian authority on the integrity right, the article observes that the threshold for derogatory treatment is relatively low, heightening commercial risk for commissioning parties. The article then argues that "design and fabricate" agreements (modified design-and-construct contracts commonly used to commission AIA works) frequently import standard construction provisions, including step-in rights and incapacity clauses, that are ill-suited to art commissions and may expose commissioners to moral rights claims. Particular attention is paid to commissions involving Indigenous Australian artists and the inadequacy of current frameworks in addressing Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) rights. The article further identifies a significant legislative gap regarding digital AIA works, which do not fit within the Act's moveable/immoveable binary, and proposes that tailored contractual mechanisms (including limited moral rights waivers, licensing provisions, and display standards) should address these gaps pending legislative reform.

Application Dilemmas and Solutions of Transfer-DNA Evidence in Indecent Assault Cases: A Sino-US Comparative Perspective

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 04:21:52 +0000

The iterative advancement of Transfer-DNA analytical techniques has provided a novel means of proof for indecent assault cases, which typically lack objective physical evidence. However, this trace, probabilistic evidence—constrained by extremely low template quantities, susceptibility to degradation, and multi-stage transfer—has exposed prominent challenges in both Chinese and U.S. judicial practice: the evidentiary status of negative results remains ambiguous; indirect DNA transfer undermines causal proof; and mixed profiles and third-party contamination yield divergent interpretations. Owing to differences in litigation structure, scientific evidence review, and forensic standardization, the two countries diverge sharply in admissibility review, activity-level proposition use, expert witness systems, and quality control. The United States has built a filtering mechanism grounded in the Daubert standard, SWGDAM guidelines, and case law, yet faces inconsistent standards due to juror bias and fragmented federal-state legislation. China has seen growing application but lacks specialized rules, producing a pervasive adjudicative error in which sub-source-level conclusions are directly extrapolated to criminal activity findings. Employing a comparative-law methodology, this article analyzes the threefold causes—technical, normative, and judicial-cognitive—and constructs a full-chain solution tailored to indecent assault scenarios. Its core argument is that these dilemmas are essentially a normative question of how probabilistic forensic evidence can be embedded into the traditional criminal corroboration-based proof system; only coordinated upgrading of technical standards, evidentiary rules, and judicial cognition can realize Transfer-DNA's value while preventing wrongful convictions.