This White Paper aims to provide an overview over the assessment of the technological applications in terms of their legitimacy and amenability to Rule of Law standards ensuring respect for rights and liberties. This Paper is oriented towards the policymakers who consider introducing surveillance technologies for health purposes and would like to learn more about how to assess this from a Rule of Law perspective. It is organized in a set of questions. Each question is accompanied by information stemming from the findings of a collaborative research project which tests the hypothesis that emergency responses based on the Rule of Law have the potential to contribute to the empowerment of societies to respond to crisis situations.
In this half an hour presentation, research associate Jane Loo from the Centre for AI and Data Governance (CAIDG, SMU) summarises our ongoing work on the influence of the Rule of Law (RoL) on state legitimacy, trust and COVID control measures. The project seeks to empirically demonstrate through the interrogation of selected use cases how the legitimacy of the State (measured in part through citizens’ perception of its legitimacy) may have an influence on citizens’ compliance and reception towards State-imposed COVID control measures. State legitimacy, where it relies on differing degrees of representative democracy for authority is demonstrated to be positively influenced by the RoL. The project also analyses the role and prevalence of trust and distrust and its interplay with principles of the RoL as both tempering the arbitrary exercises of power and as enhancing procedural justice. In essence, the project claims that the enhancement of both State legitimacy and citizens’ trust through RoL compliance have a positive influence on the overall efficacy of COVID control measures lending to more positive health and social outcomes for society.
The United Nations has released a first version of a Handbook on Provisions and Options for Trade in Times of Crisis and Pandemic’. Work on the handbook was initiated by ESCAP, UNCTAD and other UN Regional Commissions after realizing that the hundreds of regional trade agreements in place provided no guidance to countries on how to keep trade going during the COVID-19 pandemic. In many cases, especially during the first half of 2020, many countries took ad-hoc unilateral measures that seriously disrupted international supply chains, including supplies in essential goods, such as medical equipment as well as food. The Handbook is based on inputs collected from a wide range of experts, including from WTO, civil society, academia and the private sector, under the Global Initiative on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of Crisis and Pandemic in Regional and other Trade Agreements (IMP). It is a living document, which will be updated based on feedback from users and as new lessons learns emerge. It is freely accessible at: https://www.unescap.org/kp/2021/handbook-provisions-and-options-trade-times-crisis-and-pandemic. Along with the Handbook, the UN also has made available a free online self-paced course based on the Handbook. Everyone interested can take the short course and get the certificate upon completion of online testing requirements at https://www.unescap.org/training/rta-ttcp. Professors and teachers of international trade law and development are welcome to integrate the short course in their own programmes. ESCAP, UNCTAD and other UN Regional Commissions will also organize facilitated global and regional courses based on the Handbook starting later this year. This handbook is part of the UN Global Initiative on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of Crisis and Pandemic in Regional and other Trade Agreements (IMP), where Assoc. Prof. Henry Gao (CAIDG's lead investigator for the Trade project track) serves as a member of the Core Expert Group. Also, the UN has recommended the participants, before taking the online course for the handbook, to complete the Online Course on Negotiation of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements, which was designed and delivered by Assoc. Prof. Henry Gao at the invitation of the UN.
This compendium draws together a collection of some of the research produced by the Singapore Management University’s Centre of Artificial Intelligence & Data Governance on COVID-19. The included papers seek to showcase the centre's thinking on critical AI and data governance issues that have emerged in this pandemic as a result of State control approaches and responses. In putting together this series, CAIDG's editorial team endeavours to provide readers with an accessible understanding of evolving COVID-19 related issues to inspire policy and regulatory refinement for future pandemic governance.
Sign up for the Centre’s mailing list to keep updated with our latest events and publications.