Journal of Legal Studies

Aruna Shanbaug. A Case Study in Compassion, Dignity, and the Ethics of Euthanasia

2025-11-02T00:23:02+08:00

The case of Aruna Shanbaug is a landmark case in Indian jurisprudence that significantly influenced the debate surrounding the right to die with dignity. Aruna Shanbaug, was a nurse at King Edward Memorial Hospital, left in a persistent vegetative state for 42 years following a brutal assault. This prolonged condition raised complex ethical, moral, and legal questions regarding whether individuals in irreversible conditions should be allowed to die through unnatural means. In 2009, Social activist Pinki Virani filed a petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, seeking permission for euthanasia, arguing that Shanbaug's condition was unlikely to improve and that she was suffering unnecessarily. The petition was later brought before the Supreme Court of India in 2011. While the Court rejected the plea for active euthanasia, it acknowledged the legality of passive euthanasia, provided that strict conditions should be fulfilled, including the approval of a medical board. This ruling marked a crucial development in the recognition of passive euthanasia in India, paving the way for future legal reforms. The case continues to influence discussions on human rights, medical ethics, and personal autonomy in the context of Indian healthcare law. The objective of this paper is to analyze the ethical, moral, and legal implications of the Aruna Shanbaug case in the context of euthanasia laws in India. It aims to explore how the case influenced the recognition of passive euthanasia and shaped subsequent legal reforms in the country.

Digital Transformation in Legal Education: Gamification Models Form India, Brazil, and South Africa for Pakistan

2025-11-02T00:23:03+08:00

Legal education requires digital transformation because it responds to modern pedagogical needs through innovative learning methods to increase students' skills in legal reasoning, advocacy and problem-solving abilities. Legal training that implements gamification mechanics connects game-based elements to produce a dynamic system that builds student involvement along with enhanced mental retention. This paper critically analyzes gamification effectiveness in legal education through an analysis of successful Indian, Brazilian, and South African approaches, which yield adoption principles usable for Pakistan. The paper establishes constructivist learning theories and experiential pedagogy as well as cognitive engagement principles before showing gamification uses in simulated legal practice with interactive case analysis and digital moot courts. The research evaluates three different implementations based on comparative case studies, where it investigates LawBot and AI-empowered legal games in India in addition to Jogo Justo for interactive moot court exercises in Brazil and interactive virtual legal clinics in South Africa. This study contrasts different models by examining their successful methods and limitations to create specific policy changes that match Pakistan’s legal education programs. The paper focuses on aligning curriculum content with each other while developing faculty abilities alongside mobilizing institutional backing and resolving limitations involving infrastructure. A detailed examination of legal regulatory requirements, together with public-private partnerships and policies from the bar councils, investigates the sustainability measures for adoption. The paper recommends future innovation along with digital transformation to improve Pakistan’s legal education system in this age of technology-based teaching methods.

Analysis of Licensing Issues in Tourist Destination Development: Case Study of Hibisc Fantasy Park

2025-11-02T00:23:05+08:00

The development of tourism destinations requires a strict and structured permitting process to ensure compliance with spatial planning, environmental protection, and community welfare. This study analyzes the licensing issues encountered in the development of Hibisc Fantasy Park in Puncak, Indonesia. Using a qualitative method with a juridical-empirical approach, the research identifies discrepancies between the obtained permits and actual development practices, such as the expansion of the construction area far beyond the approved limits. The study highlights several key factors contributing to the violation of licensing regulations, including weak government supervision, poor inter-agency coordination, economic pressures on developers, lack of regulatory understanding, and limited government resources. The findings emphasize the urgent need for stronger regulatory enforcement, improved institutional coordination, and greater public awareness to promote sustainable tourism development. Recommendations are provided to enhance the effectiveness of licensing systems and to ensure that tourism growth aligns with legal and environmental standards.

Mobile Legal Justice: Buckle Up for a Rocky and Smooth Justice System

2025-11-02T00:23:06+08:00

This analysis explores the dynamics of the justice system, highlighting its systemic challenges and recent advancements. It aims to examine the justice system's dualistic nature, focusing on structural barriers alongside progressive inventions. The rationale is to enhance an understanding and contribute optimally to legal processes by investigating the interplay among various components of justice delivery. The study explores the divergent experiences within this framework, where some individuals steer significant obstacles reminiscent of traversing perilous terrain while others benefit from more explicit pathways. The discourse emphasises the critical need for equitable justice across different demographics by analysing the influence of technological developments and mobile applications in improving accessibility and transparency. These narrative challenges prompt legal professionals and policymakers to rigorously assess continuous systemic disparities while cultivating a concerted effort toward a more equitable legal framework. Generally, this contribution posits that envisioning a future in which justice is accessible and fundamentally fair is achievable through the strategic deployment of ingenious tools and advocacy efforts.

Establishing an Independent Fiscal Council in Mauritius: A Framework for Enhanced Fiscal Governance

2025-11-02T00:23:07+08:00

This paper examines the case for establishing an Independent Fiscal Council in Mauritius as a mechanism to enhance fiscal governance, transparency, and accountability. Despite Mauritius's reputation as a well-governed small island economy, recurring challenges, including rising public debt-to-GDP ratios (which reached 87% in 2021), persistent budget deficits, instances of public fund misappropriation, and weaknesses in fiscal oversight, indicate the need for institutional reform. Using a mixed-methods approach combining doctrinal legal analysis with comparative research, this study examines primary sources, including legislation and official reports, alongside secondary literature on fiscal governance. The research conducts a comparative analysis of fiscal council frameworks in selected jurisdictions (UK, New Zealand, Brazil, India, Australia, Hungary, Argentina, Luxembourg, and Singapore), drawing lessons applicable to the Mauritian context. The findings demonstrate that Mauritius's current fiscal governance framework lacks robust independent oversight mechanisms, contributing to fiscal challenges and accountability deficits. The paper proposes a comprehensive model for a Mauritian Fiscal Council, including its legal foundation, institutional design, powers, functions, and relationship with existing institutions, while providing a detailed implementation roadmap addressing the unique political economy challenges facing Mauritius.

From Margins to Mainstream: The Role of Political Parties in Advancing Women’s Parliamentary Representation in Ghana

2025-11-02T00:23:08+08:00

Women’s underrepresentation in national legislatures is a persistent global concern. This study interrogates how political parties can promote greater women’s representation in Ghana’s Parliament. Using the mixed-methods approach, the paper combines a survey of 100 participants and in-depth interviews with six key informants. The findings reveal multiple challenges facing women in politics and identify mechanisms through which parties can help overcome these barriers. Internally, parties can introduce measures such as candidate quotas, reserved seats in safe constituencies, reduced filing fees, financial and material support, and capacity-building programs for aspiring female politicians. At the national level, legal reforms, including the implementation of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act (2024), are pivotal. While these strategies hold promise for increasing women's parliamentary representation in Ghana, the study concludes that political parties must find a way to deal with internal opposition, as most stakeholders see these measures as undemocratic. The paper concludes that committed political party actions, coupled with supportive legal frameworks, are essential to achieving meaningful gains in women’s representation.

The Annulment of the 2024 Romanian Presidential Election. Between Constitutional Guardianship and Judicial Overreach

2025-11-02T00:23:09+08:00

The article focuses on Ruling No. 32/2024 of the Constitutional Court of Romania, which annulled the first round of the presidential elections in response to intelligence revelations about large-scale foreign disinformation and covert digital campaigns. Based on Article 146(f) of the Constitution, the Court assumed its role as the guardian of electoral integrity ex officio, ordered a full rerun of the elections, and extended the term of the incumbent president. While the decision reflects a militant defence of democracy and resonates with European standards that allow for annulment in exceptional circumstances, it can also be argued that it exceeded the limits of legality. The Court’s reliance on declassified information, its succinct reasoning, and the absence of procedural safeguards raise questions about transparency, predictability, and thus the rule of law. Testing both sides of the coin - which the article attempts to tackle - can illustrate both the strength and fragility of Romanian constitutionalism, i.e., strong in its desire to defend democratic values, yet fragile in the absence of clear statutory and constitutional rules for such crises.

Extra-Judicial Killings: A Snapshot of Bangladesh's Legal Regime

2025-11-02T00:23:10+08:00

This study explores the alarming topic of extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh, pointing out how these crimes violate fundamental human rights and undermine democratic values in the country's criminal justice system. It sheds light on the pervasive impunity and lack of accountability among law enforcement agencies by tracing the historical roots of such killings and examining the current judicial system. It investigates the violations of internationally acknowledged human rights instruments and identifies gaps in existing legislation using a qualitative examination of secondary sources. To emphasize the seriousness of the present scenario, two shocking, sensational incidents are reviewed. Upholding the principles of human rights requires that the guidelines, rules, policies, and legal mechanisms made by the UN be put into practice. By putting these recommendations into reality, Bangladesh can create a society that upholds the rule of law, protects human rights, and ends the heinous practice of extrajudicial killings.

Artificial Intelligence in Forensic Investigations. Doctrinal Gaps, Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law

2025-11-02T00:23:11+08:00

The article examines the growing tension between the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in criminal investigations and the protection of fundamental rights. While AI technologies such as facial recognition, predictive policing, and digital forensics promise greater efficiency in law enforcement, they simultaneously raise serious concerns related to privacy, equality, non-discrimination, and the right to a fair trial. The analysis demonstrates that the current legal and doctrinal framework remains insufficiently developed to address these challenges, creating the risk of fragmented practices and undermining legal certainty. Drawing on European and international standards, as well as recent doctrinal debates, the article highlights the main risks: algorithmic opacity, indirect discrimination, automation bias, and the lack of consolidated jurisprudence regarding AI-generated evidence. The article contributes to filling this gap by identifying doctrinal lacunae and proposing research and regulatory directions. These include the need for clear procedural standards, mandatory algorithmic audits, minimum safeguards for digital evidence, strict limitations on the use of predictive technologies, and investment in digital literacy for justice professionals. AI should not be rejected as a threat, but integrated responsibly into the legal system, ensuring both security and respect for the rule of law.