Aging Alone in Malaysia: Social Challenges and Legal Protections

According to The Japan Times, nearly 28,000 elderly individuals in Japan will die alone in the first half of 2024. This alarming trend is not unique to Japan; many countries, including Malaysia, are facing the challenges of an aging population. As Malaysia approaches becoming an aging nation, issues affecting the elderly, particularly those living alone, demand urgent attention. While not all elderly people face the same circumstances, some enjoy stable finances or live with their family, while others live in isolation due to various factors, such as remaining unmarried, widowhood, or estranged familial ties. Some are simply separated by their distance from their children, who live elsewhere. The growing number of elderly individuals living alone has raised concerns about social neglect and the risk of dying unnoticed. The aim of this article is to examine the issue and challenges faced by the elderly living alone and to assess the legal framework that protect their rights in Malaysia. Using a doctrinal legal research approach, the authors examined the legal frameworks in Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom on the rights and protections of elderly living alone. The findings reveal significant legal gaps in protection and social support available for elderly living alone in Malaysia. This article proposed the need to strengthen the existing legal framework, enhance social supports and foster community initiatives for elderly living alone, ensuring that no one is forgotten

Beyond Refusal or Acceptance: Reformulating Administrative Silence in Indonesia from a Comparative French Model

The administrative silence is constructed as a legal fiction that originated as a negative (silence as refusal) and has since developed into a positive (silence as acceptance). In European administrative law, no system operates exclusively based on one legal fiction. Both negative and positive fictions are employed with defined limitations, as in France. Conversely, in Indonesia, these fictions are considered conflicting and override each other due to complex regulations and undefined limitations, leading to ambiguity. Therefore, this article aims to reformulate the concept of administrative silence in Indonesia through a comparative doctrinal legal research approach. The findings proved that both fictions have distinct conceptual origins and should be applied in their respective contexts. Although as fiction, their implementation, particularly in cases of positive fiction, should reflect the principle of administrative law that a decision is an expression of “will.” Consequently, Indonesia should reformulate its approach by applying both fictions simultaneously with defined limitations, based on the decision type: declarative or constitutive, rather than treating them as a dichotomy. Ultimately, this article contributes to comparative administrative law by examining administrative silence in Indonesia through the relationship between negative fiction, positive fiction, and decision typology based on comparison with the French model

Legal Gaps in Personal Data Protection: Reforming Indonesia’s Population Administration Law

This study critically examines the existing legal framework for personal data protection within Indonesia’s population administration system. Through a normative legal research approach, it identifies significant regulatory gaps that leave personal information vulnerable to misuse and breaches. The results show that the current legal policies remain insufficient, as numerous aspects of personal data protection have yet to be explicitly regulated in the Population Administration Law. Despite the enactment of a national personal data protection law, its effectiveness is undermined by the lack of comprehensive integration into the Population Administration Law. This research proposes reconstructing the legal framework to address essential aspects of data management—such as collection, utilization, safeguarding, exchange, and misuse prevention—while establishing clear access rights, prohibitions on unauthorized activities, and a structured system of proportional sanctions. By incorporating specialized legal provisions and aligning with international best practices, these reforms would strengthen Indonesia’s data protection framework, enhance public trust, and reinforce the government’s role in safeguarding citizens’ personal information

Sharenting in Malaysia: Balancing Parental Rights and Children’s Privacy in the Digital Age

This study explores the phenomenon of “sharenting,” the widespread practice of parents sharing information, photos, and videos of their children online, within the Malaysian context. As social media becomes deeply embedded in daily life, sharenting serves as a common means for parents to document and share their parenting journey. However, this practice raises significant concerns about striking a balance between parental rights and children’s rights to privacy, consent, and protection from long-term digital exposure. While Malaysian parents often view sharenting as an expression of their rights, it may inadvertently infringe upon the child’s autonomy and digital footprint, which is permanent and difficult to erase. This study examines the existing Malaysian legal framework governing parental and children’s rights, with a focus on the principle of the best interest of the child as the guiding standard. Through a comprehensive review of literature, relevant legislation, and comparative perspective, the study argues that current laws are insufficiently addressing children’s digital privacy and consent rights. It recommends legal reforms that explicitly recognise children’s rights to privacy, consent, and the right to be forgotten, ensuring a more equitable balance between parental authority and the child’s digital autonomy in the digital age

Compliance with International Humanitarian Law and Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Kosovo

Unprecedented violent conflicts occurred worldwide during the 20th century. Millions of lives lost, infrastructure destroyed, and generational effects on post-conflict nations. Meanwhile, international humanitarian law was developed to reduce conflict damage. Government parties to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) conventions have enforceable obligations to implement, promote, and perform their duties, helping to promote their wider recognition and enforcement. During the Kosovo conflict, Serbian military commanders and the police violated international humanitarian law by breaking fundamental precepts. The study of the Kosovo conflict prioritizes criminal accountability and historical documentation over the enduring societal consequences of violations of IHL. There are not many studies that look at how not following IHL affects transitional justice after a conflict. The findings indicate that successful post-conflict reconciliation necessitates enhanced domestic implementation and enforcement of transitional justice frameworks. This includes ensuring accountability for significant violations, fostering victim-centered truth, and institutionalizing IHL education to avert recurrence and facilitate enduring interethnic reconciliation. The article examines the major transgressions of IHL amidst the war in Kosovo (1998–1999), and their effects on post-conflict interethnic reconciliation. Utilizing qualitative, quantitative, and legal-dogmatic methods shows that non-adherence to IHL during armed conflict directly affects transitional justice and severely impacts reconciliation efforts

Smart Contract as a Novel Method of Contracting: Many Unanswered Legal Questions

Smart contracts have shed light on a new era of contract law, which necessitates a proper legal response to address their unique characteristics, including automation, self-enforcement, coded, immutability, and irreversibility. While these features offer significant legal and practical benefits, they raised critical legal questions. The study aims to identify the legal challenges resulting from the implementation of smart contracts through an in-depth examination of various key aspects. To achieve the intended objective, the study adopted qualitative research utilising the library method and analysing data descriptively and analytically. The study revealed that applying the current conventional contract laws is inadequate and would create a bundle of unprecedented legal questions related to all the life cycle of the contracts, such as legal existence, formation and enforcement, jurisdictional issue, mechanism, unlawful activities, as well as the third parties. The study recommended establishing a specialised framework to address various issues, including the establishment of a regulatory and supervisory body, legislative clarification on various aspects of smart contracts’ such as exchange of will, place, and time, coding language and coding errors, essential functions, jurisdiction and enforcement, ADR, external partners such as Oracle and coding experts, in addition to other matters pertaining to validity and admissibility. Future studies may focus on using these questions as a way to measure the viability of their law to address the emergence of smart contracts.

Enhancing Minority Rights in Kosovo and the Balkans: Legal Avenues to Inclusion

The establishment of lasting peace as a requirement for overall societal development is one of the major challenges facing emerging multi-ethnic societies. On the other hand, a lack of fundamental rights and liberties can spark unrest within the state, with the potential for conflict escalation and the involvement of other countries. The Balkan region is a classic example of ethnic conflict that has resulted in crimes and deep enmities between people who once lived peacefully together. The paper compares Kosovo to other Balkan countries in terms of the importance of empowering minority rights and freedoms, as well as using the proactive approach of governmental institutions to include minority community members in the decision-making process. The research has found that the minority groups are not well informed on legal guarantees of their rights and liberties, therefore the impression of legal gaps in safeguarding the latter is very significant. Long-term peace can be maintained by ensuring minorities' rights through the constitution and legal framework and then ensuring those rights are known to the minorities and upheld as well. The article applies a legal-doctrinal, analytical, comparative, qualitative, and quantitative method to determine the legal framework of minority community rights in Kosovo and how they interact with state institutions

AI Revolution: The Legal Battle Between Indonesia and the European Union to Protect Copyright from Artificial Intelligence

The global surge in generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has triggered unprecedented legal complexities in copyright protection. This article examines how Indonesia and the European Union (EU) approach the challenges posed by AI driven content creation and potential copyright infringement. Through doctrinal and comparative legal analysis, this study explores regulatory frameworks, liability questions, and enforcement mechanisms in both jurisdictions. The analysis reveals that Indonesia's Copyright Law No. 28 of 2014 remains anthropocentric, lacking recognition of AI generated works and mechanisms for regulating AI training using copyrighted materials. By contrast, the EU has developed a more comprehensive approach through the EU Copyright Directive and the AI Act, which incorporates risk-based AI governance and explicit opt out rights for copyright holders. The study identifies significant regulatory asymmetries between the two jurisdictions and examines potential areas for legal development. Drawing on international frameworks such as the OECD AI Guidelines, this research suggests that Indonesia could benefit from adopting more anticipatory regulatory approaches similar to the EU's principle-based strategy. The findings indicate that proactive legal reforms are necessary to address emerging AI copyright challenges in developing legal systems. This study contributes to the growing body of comparative legal scholarship on AI governance and offers insights for policymakers navigating the intersection of artificial intelligence and intellectual property law

A Cross-National Analysis of State Institutional Authority Disputes

The distribution of authority among state institutions is a fundamental component of any governmental framework, as it helps prevent jurisdictional overlaps that could lead to institutional conflicts. When such conflicts over authority do occur, it becomes imperative to have a mechanism in place for their resolution. This study is designed to explore and analyze the comparative regulatory structures for resolving authority disputes among state institutions, as outlined by the legislation in Indonesia, the United States, Germany, and Canada. Furthermore, the research aims to identify the characteristics of disputes concerning state institutional authority and suggest optimal regulatory solutions for their resolution. Utilizing a qualitative and descriptive research approach, this study will clarify the regulatory frameworks for dispute resolution among state institutions, as defined by the current legislation in each country. Each framework is characterized by unique institutions and methods for resolving disputes. The findings reveal that the German Constitutional Court holds the most comprehensive jurisdiction, covering all state institutions in Germany, both at the central and regional levels. In terms of procedural aspects, the legal framework for resolving authority disputes in Germany is more detailed than those in Indonesia, the United States, or Canada, thereby promoting greater transparency and accountability in the dispute resolution process in Germany

Reimagining Legal Approaches to Technology-Facilitated Violence Against Women in India

Digital technology has expanded women’s opportunities for expression and participation, while simultaneously enabling new and intensified forms of gender-based violence. In India, technology-facilitated violence against women (TFVW) has increased in scale and complexity, yet existing legal frameworks remain inadequately equipped to address its multidimensional harms. This article identifies a significant gap in Indian law, arguing that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act (IT Act) insufficiently recognise psychological harm, informational privacy violations, and non-sexual online abuse, while continuing to rely on patriarchal notions of consent, modesty, and public morality. Adopting a doctrinal legal research methodology informed by feminist jurisprudence, the article examines statutory provisions, judicial interpretations, and enforcement practices governing TFVW in India. It demonstrates how current laws prioritise bodily integrity and obscenity-based regulation, thereby marginalising women’s digital autonomy and reinforcing victim-blaming narratives. Drawing on constitutional principles of equality, dignity, and privacy, the article advances a feminist legal framework that shifts the analytical focus from consent and morality to harm, agency, and structural inequality. The article contributes to feminist legal scholarship by reconceptualising TFVW as a constitutional rights violation and argues for transformative legal reform to address the systemic nature of digital violence against women