Climate change gives rise to disputes and problems that are not easily addressed by existing legal doctrines and frameworks. This is because: it is a polycentric problem; the assessment of future climate impacts must deal with uncertainty; climate change is sociopolitically controversial; and addressing climate change requires recognising a dynamic physical environment. As such, climate change can be thought of as legally disruptive in that it requires lawyers and legal scholars to reconcile the legal issues raised by climate change with existing legal orders. The legal disruption catalysed by climate change has not only led to the creation of new legal regimes but also given rise to a multitude of legal disputes that require adjudication. A study of some of these cases highlights the need for active and deliberate reflection about the nature of adjudication and the legal reasoning embedded in it when confronted by a disruptive phenomenon like climate change.Climate change now figures frequently in adjudication. Between 2013 and early 2015, there were over 394 cases in the UK, US, Australia and Canada in which a legal dispute related in some way to climate change. Third, we are not either for or against climate change adjudication. We take it as a given -394 cases in 4 jurisdictions in less than 2 years says it all. What we are arguing for is the need for reflective, rigorous and creative discussion about the relationship between climate change and legal reasoning. A study of the types of legal issues that climate change is generating in adjudicative contexts is an important starting point for that discussion.
This chapter introduces law, regulation, and technology as a rapidly developing field of research. It offers a frame for an ambitious set of scholarly inquiries by suggesting three connected themes for research, each evoking ideas of ‘disruption’: (1) technology’s disruption of legal doctrine and its normative foundations; (2) its disruption of regulatory frameworks more generally, often provoking concerns about regulatory legitimacy; and (3) challenges in constructing regulatory environments that are ‘fit for purpose’ in light of rapid technological development and disruption. The chapter then outlines the Handbook’s structure, reflecting on the core values that underpin the law and regulation of technology; the doctrinal questions posed by new technologies; and how regulatory governance processes and institutions have been shaped by technological innovation. The final section examines these issues across six key policy spheres for technological development. We conclude by reflecting on the future of research and education in the field.
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