RESEARCH
LPL EDITIONS
RESEARCH ACADEMY
HAPPENING
RESEARCH
Constitutional Law and Political Science
Constitutional Law of Cyberspace and Cybersecurity
Responsible Researchers:
Raquel Brízida Castro
Raquel Brízida Castro
External Researchers:
Mário Gaspar da Silva (IST); Nuno Guimarães (ISCTE); Eduardo Magrani (Affiliated Harvard University)
Mário Gaspar da Silva (IST); Nuno Guimarães (ISCTE); Eduardo Magrani (Affiliated Harvard University)
Consultants:
Nuno Teixeira Castro (CIJIC – Centro de Investigação Jurídica do Ciberespaço); José Belo (Universidade de Milão); Sérgio Silva
Nuno Teixeira Castro (CIJIC – Centro de Investigação Jurídica do Ciberespaço); José Belo (Universidade de Milão); Sérgio Silva
Financing:
UIDB/04310/2020
UIDB/04310/2020
Project Status:
Ongoing
Ongoing
Summary
Cyberspace is the new stage of Law. It skillfully circumvents old certainties and securities, demanding effective and appropriate responses to new problems. It asserts itself in a scenario, par excellence, of multidisciplinarity, even in Law, calling for the crossing of knowledge and specialisations.
Objectives
This project aims to study two fundamental aspects of cyberspace: the institutional model of its regulation and the balance between fundamental rights that must be considered, in order to establish effective criteria to address conflicts between active legal positions.
Especially interesting are the challenges to the Theory of the Constitution and Constitutional Law, raised by a possible consideration of cyberspace as an “autonomous territory”, lacking its own constitutional dogmatics. From the outset, it is necessary to delve deeper and resolve specific issues of constitutional interpretation and constitutional justice and relate them to a growing trend towards Europeanization of cyberspace regulation. 1. to the detriment of the constitutional distribution of competences, which is harmful, in particular, to the protection of fundamental rights. 2. In addition to the investigation, it will carry out a pragmatic diagnosis of technological facts that currently threaten constitutional integrity, producing true unconstitutional constitutional mutations. 3. Among the countless challenges that Cyberspace brings to Public Law, it is important to highlight, in particular, the following: • Impacts of the new normative order of cyberspace on the legal system, the Constitutions and new trends in the Principle of Separation of Powers; • Emergence of a new regulatory paradigm for Public Law. 4. • Impacts of the Europeanization of cyberspace regulation and the primacy of European Union law in the constitutional systems of Member States; • Constitutional challenges to the new Digital Services Regulation; • Regulation of the internet and cyberspace; • Identity issues in cyberspace: citizens acquire multiple overlapping identities that are fundamental to their individuality and can have a profound influence on their health and ability to develop social capital in their communities; • Legal Implications of IoT and Artificial Intelligence; • The Role of Information Technologies in State Security and Justice: new investigation methodologies, police cooperation and quick and efficient ways of obtaining data.
Especially interesting are the challenges to the Theory of the Constitution and Constitutional Law, raised by a possible consideration of cyberspace as an “autonomous territory”, lacking its own constitutional dogmatics. From the outset, it is necessary to delve deeper and resolve specific issues of constitutional interpretation and constitutional justice and relate them to a growing trend towards Europeanization of cyberspace regulation. 1. to the detriment of the constitutional distribution of competences, which is harmful, in particular, to the protection of fundamental rights. 2. In addition to the investigation, it will carry out a pragmatic diagnosis of technological facts that currently threaten constitutional integrity, producing true unconstitutional constitutional mutations. 3. Among the countless challenges that Cyberspace brings to Public Law, it is important to highlight, in particular, the following: • Impacts of the new normative order of cyberspace on the legal system, the Constitutions and new trends in the Principle of Separation of Powers; • Emergence of a new regulatory paradigm for Public Law. 4. • Impacts of the Europeanization of cyberspace regulation and the primacy of European Union law in the constitutional systems of Member States; • Constitutional challenges to the new Digital Services Regulation; • Regulation of the internet and cyberspace; • Identity issues in cyberspace: citizens acquire multiple overlapping identities that are fundamental to their individuality and can have a profound influence on their health and ability to develop social capital in their communities; • Legal Implications of IoT and Artificial Intelligence; • The Role of Information Technologies in State Security and Justice: new investigation methodologies, police cooperation and quick and efficient ways of obtaining data.
Relevance
The change in communication and information dissemination paradigms makes cyberspace a “singular area”, not compatible with the classic categorical standards of Public Law. The globalized universe, as well as the processes of information circulation, have given rise to new problems for Law.
With new factual problems and the need to find adequate answers that, in many cases, require original constructions, the relevance of the project is justified by a “new world” calling for a “new Law” (obviously not disturbing the fundamental principles of the legal system ).
