Law Goes Virtual
Digital technologies are transforming nearly every aspect of economic, social, and legal life. The growing power of global technology companies, the rise of data-driven economies, and the expansion of virtual environments are reshaping markets, property, identity, governance, and even international humanitarian law. Conventional legal concepts—such as ownership, jurisdiction, accountability, and community—are increasingly strained by AI-mediated decision-making, digital assets, virtual platforms, and emerging forms of online interaction.
Law Goes Virtual, an initiative within BIICL's Law and Change programme, responds to these developments by examining how law can remain effective, legitimate, and adaptable in digitally integrated societies. The initiative explores how legal frameworks must evolve as technologies reshape legal institutions, practices, and understandings of rights and obligations.
The research addresses practical and forward-looking questions, including how data should be governed as a core economic resource; how transactions and identities in virtual environments should be regulated; how accountability can be maintained in AI-driven systems; and what role law should play in the development of virtual institutions that increasingly resemble courts, regulators, and markets.
Designed as an ongoing, interdisciplinary research platform, Law Goes Virtual brings together legal analysis, comparative perspectives, and policy-oriented insight to support the development of innovative governance frameworks for digital and virtual contexts. Through a set of interconnected research themes, the initiative focuses on major governance challenges, including AI accountability, data rights, and institutional adaptation. Its overarching aim is to strengthen legal capacity in digital environments and contribute to governance models that ensure emerging technologies support safe, equitable, and socially beneficial virtual life.
If you are interested in our work or would like to explore opportunities to collaborate, please get in touch with us.
Law Goes Virtual Forum
The Law Goes Virtual Forum provides a dedicated space for dialogue, collaboration, and knowledge exchange on the legal and governance challenges emerging from digital transformation. The Forum particularly welcomes input and participation from early-career researchers and young scholars, recognising the importance of diverse perspectives in shaping future digital governance.
Current Research
Law Goes Virtual currently focuses on key legal and governance challenges arising from digital transformation. These include the following clusters:
• Law, AI, and digital justice: regulating frontier technologies for equity and inclusion
• Law as a Stimulator of Innovation
• Society 5.0 and the Global Governance of AI
AI governance and accountability, Data governance and digital rights, Inclusive, human-centred technology governance, Law as an enabler of innovation and Virtual platforms and digital economies, including digital assets, identities, and platform power. Together, these areas support the development of practical governance models that promote accountable, equitable, and socially beneficial technological futures.
