MODERN METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE INVESTIGATION OF ENSURING AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHT TO ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION

The purpose of the paper is to study the preconditions of the necessity to use new scientific tools during the study of issues related to the ensuring and protection of human right to access to public information; to characterize the main scientific approaches to modern researches in the sphere of safeguarding human right to access to public information; to identify promising directions for further research on this topic. Methodology. The paper presents the examples of a negative use of scientific methodology in conducting research in the area of administrative law and procedure and also draws attention to the need to reconsider an obsolete scientific methodology that does not correspond to the current realities and negatively affects the development of legal science. It indicates and characterizes the main preconditions of the necessity to use new scientific tools while investigating the issues related to ensuring and protection of human right to access to public information. In the context of the research of peculiarities of administrative and legal coverage and protection of human right to access to public information, it is proposed to use the systems approach, which is extremely effective in analysing complicated legal phenomena and processes and permits to study the peculiarities of substantive, procedure and procedural legal regulation as a cohesive whole. Practical implications. The system approach is an extremely promising technique for studying legal reality. Its use allows synthesizing all the knowledge about legal phenomena (legal rules, legal relations, legal consciousness, etc.), which is accumulated during the past stages of formation and development of domestic legal science, for a deeper insight into the development and functioning of law in general and administrative law in particular. Value/originality. Problems that exist in legal science in general and in the science of administrative law, in particular, can be solved only with the help of new scientific tools, specifically, by applying the system approach. The use of the systems approach in case of studying the issues of ensuring and protection of the human right to access to public information would allow combining all studies that were performed on this issue in substantive, procedure or procedural parts of the administrative law

Cyber-Attacks and the Use of Force: Back to the Future of Article 2(4)

Cyber-attacks – efforts to alter, disrupt, or destroy computer systems, networks, or the information or programs on them – pose difficult interpretive issues with respect to the U.N. Charter, including when, if ever, such activities constitute prohibited “force” or an “armed attack” justifying military force in self-defense. In exploring these issues, and by drawing on lessons from Cold War legal debates about the U.N. Charter, this Article makes two overarching arguments. First, strategy is a major driver of legal evolution. Whereas most scholarship and commentary on cyber-attacks has focused on how international law might be interpreted or amended to take account of new technologies and threats, this Article focuses on the dynamic interplay of law and strategy – strategy generates reappraisal and revision of law, while law itself shapes strategy – and the moves and countermoves among actors with varying interests, capabilities, and vulnerabilities. Second, this Article argues that it will be difficult to achieve international agreement on legal interpretation and to enforce it with respect to cyber-attacks. The current trajectory of U.S. interpretation – which emphasizes the effects of cyber-attacks in analyzing whether they cross the U.N. Charter’s legal thresholds – is a reasonable effort to overcome translation problems of a Charter built for a different era of conflict. However, certain features of cyber-activities make international legal regulation very difficult, and major actors have divergent strategic interests that will pull their preferred doctrinal interpretations and aspirations in different directions, impeding formation of a stable international consensus. The prescription is not to abandon interpretive or multilateral legal efforts to regulate cyber-attacks, but to recognize the likely limits of these efforts and to consider the implications of legal proposals or negotiations in the context of broader security strategy

A Platform for Innovation and Standards Evaluation: a Case Study from the OpenMRS Open-Source Radiology Information System

Open-source development can provide a platform for innovation by seeking feedback from community members as well as providing tools and infrastructure to test new standards. Vendors of proprietary systems may delay adoption of new standards until there are sufficient incentives such as legal mandates or financial incentives to encourage/mandate adoption. Moreover, open-source systems in healthcare have been widely adopted in low- and middle-income countries and can be used to bridge gaps that exist in global health radiology. Since 2011, the authors, along with a community of open-source contributors, have worked on developing an open-source radiology information system (RIS) across two communities-OpenMRS and LibreHealth. The main purpose of the RIS is to implement core radiology workflows, on which others can build and test new radiology standards. This work has resulted in three major releases of the system, with current architectural changes driven by changing technology, development of new standards in health and imaging informatics, and changing user needs. At their core, both these communities are focused on building general-purpose EHR systems, but based on user contributions from the fringes, we have been able to create an innovative system that has been used by hospitals and clinics in four different countries. We provide an overview of the history of the LibreHealth RIS, the architecture of the system, overview of standards integration, describe challenges of developing an open-source product, and future directions. Our goal is to attract more participation and involvement to further develop the LibreHealth RIS into an Enterprise Imaging System that can be used in other clinical imaging including pathology and dermatology

Cyber Infrastructure Protection: Vol. II

View the Executive SummaryIncreased reliance on the Internet and other networked systems raise the risks of cyber attacks that could harm our nation’s cyber infrastructure. The cyber infrastructure encompasses a number of sectors including: the nation’s mass transit and other transportation systems; banking and financial systems; factories; energy systems and the electric power grid; and telecommunications, which increasingly rely on a complex array of computer networks, including the public Internet. However, many of these systems and networks were not built and designed with security in mind. Therefore, our cyber infrastructure contains many holes, risks, and vulnerabilities that may enable an attacker to cause damage or disrupt cyber infrastructure operations. Threats to cyber infrastructure safety and security come from hackers, terrorists, criminal groups, and sophisticated organized crime groups; even nation-states and foreign intelligence services conduct cyber warfare. Cyber attackers can introduce new viruses, worms, and bots capable of defeating many of our efforts. Costs to the economy from these threats are huge and increasing. Government, business, and academia must therefore work together to understand the threat and develop various modes of fighting cyber attacks, and to establish and enhance a framework to assess the vulnerability of our cyber infrastructure and provide strategic policy directions for the protection of such an infrastructure. This book addresses such questions as: How serious is the cyber threat? What technical and policy-based approaches are best suited to securing telecommunications networks and information systems infrastructure security? What role will government and the private sector play in homeland defense against cyber attacks on critical civilian infrastructure, financial, and logistical systems? What legal impediments exist concerning efforts to defend the nation against cyber attacks, especially in preventive, preemptive, and retaliatory actions?https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1527/thumbnail.jp

The e-government implementation directions in Oman: A preliminay investigation

Electronic government has established itself as the primary enabler for transforming the way government services are offered to citizens. In the gulf countries, public sector transformation efforts are focused towards increasing accessibility, availability, competitive advances and enhancing services in civil administration. The Sultanate of Oman is one such example of the Gulf countries where large investments have been made since 2003 to implement electronic services in the public sector. Using a qualitative research approach, this research investigates the improvements that have been made to facilitate these electronic services in three public organisations, and their resulting impact within the organisations. The empirical results reveal that among others, top management support, integration and IT staff skills and capabilities are the most important factors that facilitate e-government initiatives in the Omani public sector

New Directions in Obesity Prevention and Treatment: AcademyHealth 25th Annual Research Meeting

Summarizes presentations and discussions from a June 2008 conference on the implications of childhood obesity for health services, obesity treatment and prevention, the costs and consequences of adult obesity, and restricting food marketing to children