In this letter, we flag the importance of sleep for human behaviour. Sleep is essential for human functioning yet historically has been relatively neglected in various areas of psychological research such as that focusing on psychopathology (e.g., Gregory & Sadeh, 2016). Here we note empirical data and legal cases and considerations which emphasise the potential importance of further considering sleep in the context of the legal system. We argue for the need to conduct additional high-quality systematic research in this area, as well as the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of human behaviour within the legal system and to maximise the impact of this work. Sleep has many functions including supporting emotional regulation (Palmer & Alfano, 2017) as well as memory and cognition (Girardeau & Lopes-Dos-Santos, 2021). Consequentially, missing out on sleep can result in poorer emotional regulation as well as have a negative impact on cognitive functions including attention and decision-making. It follows that sleep deprivation could play a role in certain crimes, including those committed in the context of emotional outbursts (‘provocation’) or due to significant failures (e.g., falling asleep at the wheel or making serious errors at work). Sleep quality and disorders also need to be considered in this context, with untreated or undisclosed narcolepsy or sleep apnea examples of disorders which could lead to falling asleep with serious consequences and legal ramifications, potentially adding a new dimension to legal proceedings. Indeed, undiagnosed severe sleep apnea was flagged as a possible contributor to the high-profile Long Island Rail Road Collision in 2017 in which 108 people were injured (NTSB, 2017). More generally, untreated sleep apnea is a risk factor for other outcomes, such as car accidents (Tregear et al., 2009). Such findings highlight the legal obligations of those with certain sleep disorders. While patients may legally be able to refuse treatment for a sleep disorder, they do not have a right to ignore risks to others caused by this decision (see Brown, 2022). The employer also holds legal obligations linked to their employees’ sleep – and may hold vicarious liability for sleep-related accidents occurring during work hours. In industries where safety is paramount (e.g., for doctors, pilots etc.) there may also be regulation restricting work hours and reducing tiredness (Brown, 2022). Where a sleep disorder qualifies as a disability this will have implications for reasonable adjustments required by law. Working conditions (e.g., shift work) which are deemed to cause harm (e.g., cancer) may result in compensation claims (Erren et al., 2009). Beyond employment law, early school start times, often considered to be out of sync with the internal timing of young people with consequential implications for accidents and missed potential, could hold implications for education law. What is more, if sleep is considered a fundamental human right, legal implications for housing, homelessness and detention could follow. Governments and local authorities might also want to consider promoting sleep quality via policies and public campaigns. As well as potential legal implications of the sleep disorders narcolepsy and sleep apnea, other sleep disorders have also been flagged in the legal context. These include sexomnia, which involves sexual behaviours related to sleep and may occur during a confusional arousal or in the context of sleep-walking (American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2023). This sleep disorder has led to sexual assaults (Dubessy et al., 2017) and been presented as a defence against allegations of rape with a recent case being dismissed because it was deemed possible that the alleged victim could have experienced an episode of sexomnia, something she strongly contested (Ailes, 2022). Sleep-walking and confusional arousals have also been considered in defence against accusations of violent crimes (Ebrahim & Fenwick, 2008; Ingravallo et al., 2014). In addition to the relevance of sleep-related variables to crimes committed and the potential defence (which could potentially be used to argue diminished capacity, lack of intent or involuntary behaviour), the sleep of others involved in the legal system may be worthy of further consideration. Given associations between sleep and memory, the quality and accuracy of an eyewitness testimony may vary as a function of the way a witness has slept prior to the event on which they are reporting; or whether statements are taken before or after periods of sleep. Some data support a role for sleep, and one report found that self-reported sleep quality prior to witnessing a mock crime, predicted the accuracy for which certain details were reported (Carlson et al., 2023). This chimes well with previous work showing that poorer self-reported sleep quality and greater sleepiness were associated with poorer accuracy in reporting the peripheral details of a crime (Thorley, 2013). Other reports have examined the role of sleep deprivation for false memories, finding that the former could increase the latter under certain conditions but not others (Frenda et al., 2014). Null findings have also been reported, and one study found no support for the idea that sleeping after witnessing a crime and before assessing a line-up improved eyewitness identification (Morgan et al., 2019). These mixed results for different sleep variables suggest that further empirical study, systematic reviews and meta-analyses may help to establish the full significance, magnitude, and the way in which sleep could be relevant to eyewitness testimony. Decision-making within the legal context may also be impacted significantly by sleep/circadian factors. One striking report found that judges in the US handed out sentences on the Monday following the shift to daylight savings (which is often accompanied by missing out on sleep) that were 5% longer when compared to other Mondays (Cho et al., 2017). It is however noteworthy that a further consideration of these data suggested that modelling decisions impacted these results and that therefore this effect (if it exists) may be smaller than first considered (Spamann, 2018). While the full extent of the importance of sleep for different aspects of the legal system is currently unclear, research and reports to date suggests that it might be fruitful to further consider this line of enquiry. It is beyond the aims of the authors (who have written this piece in our roles as sleep researchers and psychologists) to make suggestions about the way in which this information (if found to be robust) should be incorporated into legal recommendations and considerations – and it is and only with interdisciplinary collaborative research and discussion that this will become clearer. At the very least, further research should be conducted to examine robust effect sizes and legal experts should be aware of the role of sleep on human behaviour per se to decide if and how this needs to be further considered in a legal context.

Mechanisms and policies for compensation, support, and resettlement when the State acquires land for socio-economic development purposes are concretized by the 2013 Land Law, aiming to harmonize the interests of the parties. However, the report from the General Department of Land Management (in 2018) said that the adjusted documents on compensation and support have yet to cover all the problems arising in practice, leading to difficulties and confusion in implementation (Nhan, 2022). In essence, the land acquisition is within the competence of the State; in contrast to the types of assets established on the land, there must be a voluntary mechanism of agreement. In this case, the State should not use its power to impose compensation prices. Although the purpose is to acquire land for economic development, the law empowers the State to decide on the value of land assets, and set on the land is not standard. When comparing the same type of asset, but the value of each place has a difference, there is no uniformity. In many localities, the market price has changed several times but still set meager compensation prices for people. From the above issue, when conducting compensation when the State acquires land for socio-economic development purposes, in any case, it is necessary to correctly and fully calculate the damage caused by land acquisition to the subjects who are using land and assets attached to land, including related intangible and tangible damage. In addition, it is also necessary to delete the support policy because when the damage is fully estimated, there is no need for support-related regulations. Keywords: Land acquisition, economic development, compensation, support, and resettlement.

Ryan Abbott, ed. Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence. Research Handbooks in Intellectual Property series. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022. ISBN: 978-1-80088-189-1.

This research facilitates the discovery of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the Uniform Law for the International Sale of Goods (ULIS), and enhances a wider and deeper understanding of how and where the provisions of the CISG conflict with those of the ULIS. Notwithstanding, this study involves looking back and drawing a distinction between the past and present on the grounds that the ULIS itself is regarded as a historical precursor of the CISG. Thus, looking attentively at the foundations of the CISG is indispensable to its comprehensive interpretation. In clarifying the debate, it is important to synthesise the differences between the provisions of the ULIS and the CISG, which calls for a contextual approach, with an analytical eye, to appraise both Conventions. A comparative method was adopted for the purpose of applying an interdisciplinary approach and, as one scholar asserts, combating the attitude of parochialism, which limits the study to the CISG and overlooks other considerations that may influence the effective application of the Convention. A comparative study provides a deeply informed perspective through which to achieve a better understanding of the practical and doctrinal purposes of the two legal systems, namely by asking how the CISG and ULIS address similar contentions through different techniques. Comparison exercises in the field of international commercial law are considered an effective ‘laboratory’ for improving and reforming current practices. The principal tools of such a laboratory are the analytical approach and critical legal method, which assist in attaining a future ideal legal framework and benefit practitioners by highlighting the obstacles they may face under both Conventions at the present time.

This research facilitates the discovery of the relative strengths and weakness of UN Convention on Contracts for International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the Uniform Law for the International Sale of Goods (ULIS) and enhances wider and deeper comprehensibility of how and where CISG's Articles conflict with ULIS. Notwithstanding, this study involves looking back and draws a distinction between the past and present on the grounds that ULIS itself is regarded as a historical factor of CISG. Thus, looking attentively at the foundations of CISG is indispensible to the comprehensive interpretation of CISG. In clarifying the debate, it is important to synthesise the differences between the ULIS and CISG's provisions, which calls for a contextual approach, with an analytical eye, to appraise both Conventions. A comparative method was adopted for the purpose of applying an interdisciplinary approach and, as one scholar asserts, combating the attitude of parochialism, which limits the study to CISG and overlooks other considerations that may influence the effective application of the Convention. A comparability study provides a deeply informed perspective with which to achieve a better understanding of the practical and doctrinal purposes of the two legal systems, namely by asking how CISG and ULIS tackle similar contentions with different techniques. Comparison exercises in the field of international commercial law is considered as an effective 'laboratory' to improve and reform current practices. The principal tools of such a laboratory are the analytical approach and critical legal method, which assist the attainment of a future ideal legal framework and benefit practitioners by spotlighting the obstacles they may face under both Conventions at the present time.