'The machine runs itself': law is technology and Australian embryo and human cloning law

Article


Goding, Vincent and Tranter, Kieran. 2021. "'The machine runs itself': law is technology and Australian embryo and human cloning law." Griffith Law Review. 30 (2), pp. 240-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2021.1901356
Article Title

'The machine runs itself': law is technology and Australian embryo and human cloning law

ERA Journal ID33364
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsGoding, Vincent and Tranter, Kieran
Journal TitleGriffith Law Review
Journal Citation30 (2), pp. 240-269
Number of Pages30
Year2021
PublisherTaylor & Francis
ISSN1038-3441
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2021.1901356
Web Address (URL)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10383441.2021.1901356
AbstractTechnology law scholarship has a tendency towards the dramatic. Technology causes disruption. Law must catch-up; it must ensure potential benefits from technology and avoid potential harms. There are even concerns that law, as an organiser of human life, is itself becoming eclipsed by forms of technological management. What is often not focused on is the practical process through which concerns about technology become transmuted into legal forms within specific jurisdictions. This paper examines the 23 years of Australian law concerning embryos and human cloning. Inspired by Carl Schmitt's criticism of modernity's political institutions and the laws they produce, what is identified is a machine that runs itself. It is shown to be a highly automated process whereby technical experts manage competing values. Rather than law regulating technology or technology regulating law; the Australian study suggests that law and its making, is technological.
KeywordsAustralian embryo and human cloning law; Law and technology; lawmaking; Carl Schmitt; experts; neutralisation
Contains Sensitive ContentDoes not contain sensitive content
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020480405. Law and society and socio-legal research
480504. Legal institutions (incl. courts and justice systems)
480408. Law, science and technology
480410. Legal theory, jurisprudence and legal interpretation
Public NotesThe accessible file is the accepted version of the paper. Please refer to the URL for the published version.
Byline AffiliationsUniversity of the Sunshine Coast
Griffith University
Queensland University of Technology
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