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Background: In December 2021, the Nigerian federal government declared a compulsory COVID-19 immunisation for all employees of government. This declaration by the government has been viewed by some Nigerians as a contravention of the fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens. Aim: This study was aimed at identifying the human rights concerns surrounding vaccination mandates from the perspective of legal practitioners in Nigeria. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study that used a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire to interview legal practitioners practicing in Uyo, Nigeria. The survey focused on identifying human right concerns surrounding vaccination mandates. Results: One hundred and five legal practitioners participated in the study. Data analysis revealed that 79 (75.2%) of our respondents agreed that vaccination mandates to prevent an epidemic is well within the powers of the state, while 97 (92.4%) asserted that the Nigerian constitution gives the state authority to enact health laws including quarantine and vaccination laws to protect its citizens. According to 59% (n=62) of our respondents, the only exception to a mandatory vaccination is an offer of apparent or reasonably certain proof to the state’s board of health that the vaccination would seriously impair health or probably cause death. Conclusion: In the opinion of majority of the legal practitioners interviewed, the Nigerian constitution gives the state the power to implement measures established by legislation to protect the health of her citizens. Thus, coercive vaccination policies by the state to protect the public from an epidemic outbreak of a disease which threatens the safety of citizens may be legally binding on the citizens.

NFTs, non-fungible tokens, can represent ownership of unique things based on a relatively new technology of blockchain (ethereum.org). Because of this mechanism, people use NFTs to sell, share and transfer various rights of digital media or tangible objects. Generally, museums, which tend to be risk-averse, are slow to examine or utilize NFTs. This paper discusses the current use cases of NFTs in the museum sector addressing both benefits and challenges that come with museum NFT use to answer how NFTs can be better utilized in the future. Despite a number of challenges, NFTs are untapped resources that could have a wider application for museums. Using the theory of the commons, this paper further develops a model for a common pool of NFT sharing based on the fair use doctrine of copyright and open access model among global museums that are willing to participate, where they can share their NFT collections digitally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has inflicted disastrous damages on various aspects of human lives, especially the healthcare sector. The shortage of beds, medical staff, and other facilities in hospitals posed an acute dilemma over who should be given precedence in the treatment process and whether a more seriously ill person should sacrifice for people with less severe illness. With an interpretative approach, this short research article discusses the above questions by using compulsory organ donations as a proxy. After evaluating the compulsory organ donation from the ethical aspect, researchers then dig into the issue from legal and socioeconomic perspectives. The authors are convinced by Kant and Nozick’s proposals on ethics and justice regarding organ donation and patient sacrifice. The research also found out that the problem is not merely limited to the question of morality but also extended to an opt-out system for ensuring social welfare. Finally, the paper encourages medical practitioners, legislators, and social activists to make decisions about medical-legal issues based on interdisciplinary views. The Covid-19 pandemic has inflicted disastrous damages on various aspects of human lives, especially the healthcare sector. The shortage of beds, medical staff, and other facilities in hospitals posed an acute dilemma over who should be given precedence in the treatment process and whether a more seriously ill person should sacrifice for people with less severe illness. With an interpretative approach, this short research article discusses the above questions by using compulsory organ donations as a proxy. After evaluating the compulsory organ donation from the ethical aspect, researchers then dig into the issue from legal and socioeconomic perspectives. The authors are convinced by Kant and Nozick’s proposals on ethics and justice regarding organ donation and patient sacrifice. The research also found out that the problem is not merely limited to the question of morality but also extended to an opt-out system for ensuring social welfare. Finally, the paper encourages medical practitioners, legislators, and social activists to make decisions about medical-legal issues based on interdisciplinary views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tele-intensive care unit (tele-ICU) implementation has been shown to improve clinical and financial outcomes. The expansion of this new care delivery model has outpaced the development of its accompanying regulatory framework. In the first part of this commentary we discussed legal and regulatory issues of telemedicine in general and expanded on tele-ICU implementation in particular. Major legal and regulatory barriers to expansion remain, including uncertainty regarding license portability and reimbursement. In this second part we discuss the effects of telemedicine implementation on the various aspects of medicolegal risk and risk mitigation, with a particular focus on tele-ICU. There is a paucity of legal data regarding the effect of tele-ICU implementation on medicolegal risk. We will therefore systematically discuss the effects of tele-ICU on the various root causes of medical error. Given the substantial capital and operational investment that must be undertaken to build and run a tele-ICU, any reduction in risk adds to the financial return on investment and further decreases barriers to implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper provides different perspectives on end-of-life legal issues in Saudi Arabia, and contrasts those perspectives with current legal practice in the United States. Background: Islamic law governs end-of-life legal issues in Saudi Arabia which applies to end-of-life legal issues. There is a specific legal terminology, derived from the Qura'an, that is used to settle conflicts in end-of-life care. This contrasts with the United States which has a secular system of law that informs end-of-life issues. Data Sources: extent literature review of Muslim medical ethics; review of Shari'a law and review of US law and legal cases was used to provide both perspectives regarding end-of-life issues. Discussion: Commonalities and differences regarding end-of-life issues were highlighted in depth. Conclusions: There are many differences, and some commonalities between the laws practiced in both countries which help explain medical and nursing practice at the end of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Response to Buckleton, J., et al, Likelihood Ratios in Forensic Science based on a critique of Stiffelman "No Longer the Gold Standard: Probabilistic Genotyping is Changing the Nature of DNA Evidence in Criminal Trials, " Forensic Science International, 310 (2020) 110251. • From a legal perspective. • Juror understanding (and misunderstanding) of DNA evidence and Likelihood Ratios. • The error of transposing the conditional. This is a brief response to the critique of my previous article, No Longer the Gold Standard: Probabilistic Genotyping is Changing the Nature of DNA Evidence in Criminal Trials, 24 Berkeley J. Crim. L. 110 (2019). The critique of my article was published earlier this year in this journal. I address both criticisms and misunderstandings of my arguments in an effort to frame the concerns of the criminal defense community about the impact of probabilistic genotyping on the deliberative process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Current Status of Bitemark Analysis in the U.S.: Legal Perspectives," by Thomas J. David is presented.