The Evolution of Law, Regulation, and Technology

Outlining three phases in the history of ‘law, regulation, and technology’ (LRT) as a scholarly discipline, this book anticipates its next phase through the elaboration of a new jurisprudence centred on governance, and the aspiration for good governance.

In the first phase, it is advances in genetics and the development of the Internet that attract legal interest. In the second phase, and in the context of a raft of emerging technologies, the book identifies three recognisable lines of inquiry. One focuses on the juridical application of traditional legal rules, principles, concepts, and classifications to these technologies. Another explores the political challenges of regulating new technologies. And a third line of inquiry focuses on the ways in which new tools might be applied for the more effective and efficient performance of legal and regulatory functions. In the context of an extensive and expanding reliance on new technologies being applied for the purposes of governance, the third phase of LRT, the book argues, demands a new approach. It is time to treat law and regulation as particular modalities of governance—according to which it must be asked, for example, whether governance must be by rules, whether the rule of law is fit for purpose, and whether the separation of powers is conducive to good governance. In short, the book argues, this third—and emerging—phase of LRT demands nothing less than a new jurisprudence of governance in general, hybrid (rule and tool) governance in particular, and always the aspiration for good governance.

This book will appeal to legal researchers and postgraduates in the burgeoning field of LRT, as well as to jurists who are interested in the challenge new technologies present to traditional debates about the nature of law.