A Proposed Probabilistic Extension of the Halpern and Pearl Definition of ‘Actual Cause’

Joseph Halpern and Judea Pearl ([2005]) draw upon structural equation models to develop an attractive analysis of ‘actual cause’. Their analysis is designed for the case of deterministic causation. I show that their account can be naturally extended to provide an elegant treatment of probabilistic causation

The regulation and recognition of surrogacy under English law: An overview of the case law

This commentary presents an overview of the recent English case law on recognition and regulation of surrogacy, particularly as it relates to the issue of international surrogacy arrangements. It demonstrates that when deciding whether to authorise a surrogacy arrangement, there is often a conflict between the enforcement statutory provisions, and the welfare of the child who will bear the burden of any refusal to grant a parental order. As a result, courts have been forced to interpret the legislation in an innovative manner in order to achieve justice for the child.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Jordan Publishing

Surrogacy and single parents following Re Z

This analysis piece discusses the court's decision in Re Z not to read down s 54 (2) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 so as to allow single parents to apply for parental orders following surrogacy. The paper sets this in the context of the way the courts have interpreted other requirements laid down in s 54 and comments on the proposed inclusion of surrogacy in the Law Commission's next law reform programme

Is There High-Level Causation?

The discovery of causal relations seems a central activity of the high-level sciences, including the special sciences and certain branches of macrophysics. Those same sciences are less successful in formulating exceptionless laws. If causation must be underwritten by exceptionless laws, we are faced with a puzzle. Attempts have been made to dissolve this puzzle by showing that non-exceptionless generalizations can underwrite causal relations. The trouble is that many of these attempts fail to distinguish between two importantly different types of exception of which high-level scientific generalizations admit. Roughly speaking, one is where the values of high-level variables not represented in the generalization are abnormal: call these 'background factor' (bf) exceptions. For example, the Ideal Gas Law (IGL) may be significantly violated by a gas if a strong electric current is passed through it. Another is where the high-level states that are represented by variables in the generalization are realized in certain abnormal ways: call these 'mr exceptions' (exceptions having to do with the multiple realizability of high-level states). For example, the pressure of a gas may not be proportional to its temperature and volume in the way that the IGL describes if the initial macrostate of the gas is realized in a certain unusual microphysical way. While existing attempts to show that non-exceptionless generalizations can underwrite causal relations tend to work well where the generalization admits only of bf exceptions, they work less well when the generalizations in question admit—as most high-level scientific generalizations do—of mr exceptions. I argue that the best prospect for resolving the apparent problem posed by mr exceptions is to regard the generalizations which admit of them as approximations to probabilistic generalizations which don't, and which are themselves able to support relations of probabilistic causation

OUTSOURCING ETHICAL DILEMMAS: REGULATING INTERNATIONAL SURROGACY ARRANGEMENTS.

This article argues that the English legislative regime is ineffective in regulating international surrogacy, particularly with regard to commercial payments. It suggests that if English law views surrogacy as exploitative, we have a responsibility to protect women both in England and abroad, and the only way to do so effectively is to create a domestic system of regulation that caters adequately for the demand in this country. This requires a system of authorisation for surrogacy before it is undertaken; ex-post facto examinations of agreements completed in other jurisdictions, after the child is already living with the commissioning parents, cannot be seen as an acceptable compromise, as authorisation will inevitably be granted in the child's best interests.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Oxford University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwv04

Imprecise Chance and the Best System Analysis

Much recent philosophical attention has been devoted to the prospects of the Best System Analysis (BSA) of chance for yielding high-level chances, including statistical mechanical and special science chances. But a foundational worry about the BSA lurks: there don’t appear to be uniquely correct measures of the degree to which a system exhibits theoretical virtues, such as simplicity, strength, and fit. Nor does there appear to be a uniquely correct exchange rate at which the theoretical virtues trade off against one another in the determination of an overall best system. I argue that there’s no robustly best system for our world – no system that comes out best under every reasonable measure of the theoretical virtues and exchange rate between them – but rather a set of ‘tied-for-best’ systems: a set of very good systems, none of which is robustly best. Among the tied-for-best systems are systems that entail differing high-level probabilities. I argue that the advocate of the BSA should conclude that the high-level chances for our world are imprecise

International surrogacy before the European Court of Human Rights

Over the past 15 years, international surrogacy has grown from a niche practice catering only to a few adventurous couples, to a convenient response to infertility for those who would otherwise be hindered by restrictive national regimes. While the Hague Conference on Private International Law continues to debate the desirability, and indeed viability, of an international convention in this area, governments and courts around the world have been confronted by the difficult question of whether to recognize an agreement that takes place legally in another jurisdiction, but which is contrary to their own laws. This paper will consider developments across Europe in regulating foreign surrogacy arrangements, in particular focusing on the recent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights of D v Belgium, Mennesson v France and Paradiso and Campanelli v Italy, and their potential impact on national approaches. The paper will argue that in light of these decisions, the ability of domestic authorities to regulate international surrogacy is substantially undermined