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The role and importance of effective compliance management systems in criminal law practice

Author(s): Lucie Andreisová / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In April 2023, the Regional State Prosecutor's Office in Ústí nad Labem – Liberec, Czech Republic, decided to set aside the decision of the Czech Police, National Headquarters against Organized Crime. This resulted into termination of the criminal prosecution of one of the largest construction companies in the Czech Republic. The company, together with other legal entities, was accused of committing the crime of conspiracy to confer an advantage in the award of a public contract, a public tender and a public auction, as well as the crime of attempted damage to the financial interests of the European Union. The Supervising Prosecutor's Office assessed in detail the information and documents provided regarding the internal compliance management system of the accused companies and, in accordance with provisions of section 8(5) of the Act on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities, released them from their criminal liability. Since the practical impact of this decision is crucial, the author subjects it to a detailed analysis and subsequent comparison with the rules set out in relevant methodology of the Czech Supreme State Prosecutor's Office, which is a practical guide to the above-mentioned legislation. The result thus serves as a good inspiration for effective setting up and maintenance of compliance management systems in corporate practice (not only from the perspective of Czech law, as the presented conclusions are fully applicable internationally).

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Belatedly, but still - will the 2022 amendment to the Czech Copyright Act improve copyright protection against illegal online sharing of content to the public from repositories?

Author(s): Martin Boháček / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

At the end of 2022, the Czech Parliament adopted an amendment to the Copyright Act, implementing, inter alia, the EU Directive on copyright and related rights in the digital single market - the SDM Directive. The aim of this paper is to assess the possible improvement of copyright enforcement under this amendment in private law disputes between copyright holders and repositories that allow their users to communicate illegal content to the public. The paper compares the results of a micro-research of selected court decisions before and after the amendment. The question of establishing a special "blocking" authority that could effectively and quickly make illegal content in online platforms inaccessible, as it works in some EU countries, will also be considered. Other aspects of the amendment will not be discussed in the paper due to the necessary limitation of its scope. The author will rely on the method of qualitative analysis of the new legislation, case law and legal scholarship. The method of legal micro-comparison will be used for comparison with the existing practice.

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Alternative dispute resolution and artificial intelligence in the context of the new "EU AI act”

Author(s): Jana Cihanová / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can represent several potential advantages, especially in terms of the effectiveness of the process and reducing its costs. However, it also faces various challenges and concerns, mainly legal and ethical. There is no uniform guidance on how to use AI in ADR to solve the issue of transparency or potential risks. The currently discussed and prepared Artificial Intelligence Act, proposed by the European Commission (EU AI Act), can be helpful in this area. The Artificial Intelligence Act follows a risk-based approach, classifying artificial intelligence systems according to the degree of risk. As the risks increase, so do the measures to be taken. This article focuses on exploring the use of AI in ADR in the context of the draft of the new EU AI Act and the potential implications for the possible implementation of AI in ADR.

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The scope of the United Nations convention on contracts for the international sale of goods in the face of technological inventions

Author(s): Anna Kretková / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The article deals with the scope of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) facing technological inventions. The paper aims to answer the question of the application of the CISG to these technological inventions (e.g. drones). It will examine if drones can be considered as ships, vessels, hovercraft, or aircraft under Article 2(e) CISG and can therefore be excluded from the application of the CISG. The issue is analysed based on published court decisions with references to legal scholarship. The author concludes by commenting on the application of the criteria formulated in case law and by legal scholarship and provides a recommended solution as to whether the scope of the Convention should be modified in light of recent technical progress.

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Corporate transparency in the EU after the Wm and Sovim SA v. Luxembourg business registers judgment

Author(s): Daniel Zigo / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

For many years, the European Union has been a pioneer of legislation that prevents the abuse of corporate structures to conceal the flow of illegal funds or the financing of criminal activity and terrorism. Several anti-money laundering (AML) directives have also been adopted in recent years, harmonizing the laws of Member States and increasing the resilience of the entire bloc. The transparency of companies' ownership structures in the EU gradually increased, as they first had to collect data on their beneficial owners and later register them in central registers so that this data was available to the relevant authorities. Finally, these registers were made available to the general public. The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the case WM and Sovim SA v. Luxembourg Business Registers brought about a reversal of this situation when the Court annulled the provision of the 4th AML Directive that allowed the general public access to the data on beneficial owners due to the violation of the right to privacy and protection of personal data. With this decision, the Court also set criteria for the publication of data on private entities by states. The article deals with the Court's decision, its reasoning, and the Court's considerations concerning the method of publishing beneficial ownership data. The author analyzes the direction in which corporate transparency in the EU will most likely develop in the near future based on the judgment, the Opinion of the Advocate General and current developments in the EU institutions.

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Asymmetrical business-to-consumer terms in insurance contracts and enforceability deprivation for non-disclosure

Author(s): Juanita Goicovici / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The paper approaches the problematics of assessing the unfairness of asymmetrical terms in B2C insurance contracts and the enforceability deprivation for nondisclosure at the pre-contractual stage, as reflected in recent case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), particularly in the CJUE’s decision pronounced in the Ocidental – Companhia Portuguesa de Seguros de Vida case (C-263/22), which permits the courts to assess the unbalanced nature of adhesion terms relating to the exemptions from professionals’ liability, based on the transparency criteria. Saliently, in hypotheses where the consumer requested eliminating the asymmetrical terms of B2C insurance contracts, related to the excluding of specific risks or the restricting of the insured risks coverage, the unfairness of litigious terms would be interconnected to the (in)opposability of the non-disclosed terms, at the pre-contractual stage. The paper addresses the unenforceability of B2C contractual terms classified as unfair or unbalanced when depriving the consumer from the possibility of invoking the professional insurer’s liability, seen through the lens of the transparency criteria. Congruently, the significant imbalance in the mutual obligations of the parties may arise from the depriving the consumer of the rights to become acquainted to the contractual terms addressing the exclusion of specific risks from the sphere of B2C insurance clauses, prior to concluding the litigious contract.

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Temporary Protection as a Bridge between Ukraine and Czechia: An Unexpected Choice of Where to Stay and How

Author(s): Věra Honusková,Enes Zaimović / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

An unexpected encounter between Ukraine and the Czech Republic is also taking place in the area of residency status of people coming from Ukraine to the Czech Republic in the hundreds of thousands from February 2022. Czech law was prepared for this situation. At a regional level within the European Union, there is the Common European Asylum System, a set of secondary legislation that includes an instrument enabling EU countries to respond to the arrival of large numbers of people: The Temporary Protection Directive. It has never been used before, but only now, in response to this situation. In our article, we assess the appropriateness of its use and the possibilities it offers in terms of a durable solution. We focus on the national, European and international levels.

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The Possibility of a Law of All Forms of Life in the Context of Transdisciplinary Mutations in International Law

Author(s): Cristina Elena Popa Tache / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

"Tomorrow will know a culture richer in creation and, at the same time, more suited to human's body and soul than that of today."3 Undeniably, creation exists in everything. The law itself is also a creation, including in the sense of establishment. It is a process dedicated to life as a whole, especially the rights that can be identified so that life in all its forms can enjoy respect, protection and evolution. Everyone's perception of the legal norm should be one of trust, interest, understanding, satisfaction and even joy. Of all, next to the law of nature or canon law, a law of all beings could not exist without the best possible combination of law, respect for life, gratitude and even love in its spiritual rather than philosophical sense, as these two new rights are perceived and manifested by people. A law of all forms of life seen as a body of legal rules would be a higher field of law which would have as subfields: human rights, animal rights, nature rights and other tangential special rights. We are faced with the possibility of reorganising law. My research will focus on a new application of transdisciplinary methodology to international law, approached from the angle of the multiple mutations of our societies. The triggering factor is given by today's society experiencing an unprecedented international level, whether we are talking about technological advances, human or animal enhancement, or whether we are referring to climate change, sustainable development, global crises, armed conflicts, or financial and health reforms. The ultimate goal is to get as close as possible to a better solution for all forms of life, for the well-being of all beings, in a complete application of the concept of vivir bien. The research method is exploratory.

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Organized Crime - Aspects of Comparative Law

Author(s): Aurel Octavian Pasat / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The article analyzes the main features of organized crime at the current stage. It is noted that currently in the scientific literature there is still no comprehensive definition of organized crime that meets the requirements of modern realities, thus the author defines the concept of organized crime as one of the varieties of crime. Also, the article examines the criminal liability and the constitutive elements of the crime of forming an organized criminal group, under a comparative aspect. The relevance of the chosen theme is due to the current state of the fight against crime. Currently, one of the most important tasks facing not only law enforcement agencies, but also the entire society as a whole.

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Comparative Analysis of the Institute of Confiscation with Special Emphasis on the Republic of North Macedonia

Author(s): Genti Rechi / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The purpose of this study is to make an overview of the legal framework that regulates the institute of confiscation in the countries of the Western Balkans such as Serbia, Albania and Slovenia, with special emphasis on North Macedonia. By examining the similarities and the differences, this research aims to provide insights into the effectiveness and potential areas for improvement of the confiscation of proceeds crime. The study reveals that countries such as Albania, Serbia and Slovenia have clearer and more concrete legislation regarding the confiscation, as the confiscation procedure is regulated by special laws. The legal solutions regarding confiscation in North Macedonia are outdated and as a result the implementation of the confiscation measure is minimal. This study employs comparative research methods combined with legal analysis. The results obtained from the work can be used by policymakers to improve the legislation regarding confiscation.

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Artificial Intelligence: Civil Liability 3.0

Author(s): Cristina Aragão Seia / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

A new era of technical progress, development of the digital world and artificial intelligence presents new challenges in terms of safety and liability. Social acceptance of these modern technologies depends on ensuring a high level of safety and on the implementation of a European legal regime of civil liability that provides users with legal certainty about the risks assumed, encourages the prevention of damage, and provides injured parties with effective mechanisms for recourse in the event of damage. The aim of this work is to approach a legal regime of civil liability for damage resulting from Artificial Intelligence, through a comparative and critical analysis of the Portuguese regime and the proposals under consideration by the European Union Council and suggest some aspects that a future liability regime should consider.

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Recidivism - Cause of Overcrowding in Prisons in Romania

Author(s): Adriana Iulian Stancu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In the last month of 2021, the ministers of justice from the member states of the Council of Europe met in Venice and, at the initiative of the Italian presidency, discussed the role of restorative justice in criminal matters and adopted the Venice Convention. Statement. The Declaration follows the Recommendation (Rule 18) in recognizing the universal application of restorative justice for all types of crimes, even noting "the possible positive impact of restorative justice pathways and on countering the radicalization of individuals". Objectives: removing the material consequences of committing crimes and making prisoners aware of what it entails to restore the situation before the crime was committed, or what it entails to commit a new crime after conviction and partial execution. Proposal and Methodology: establishing a legal framework for obliging those released on parole to work, with their consent, to have the possibility of covering the damage from the legal garnishment of wages, with the active involvement of the state in establishing available jobs, as well as by offering advantages employers. Results and Discussions: discussion in workshops, in direct meetings with prisoners, non-governmental organizations and the management of the Maximum-Security Penitentiary Galați, Romania, about the way in which it is possible to reintegrate prisoners into society after parole. Implications: Legislative changes, government decision-making to establish jobs in question.

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Inheritance Rights of the Surviving Spouse. Study of Comparative Law

Author(s): Cristina Ramona Duță / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

With a legal situation that placed the surviving husband towards the end of the list of those called to his de cuius inheritance - only the state was found after him in the order of successors, the regulation of his succession rights betrayed, over time, a nonprivileged position. Under the empire of the Civil Codes, the one from 1864 and then the one from 2009, the surviving spouse acquires a well-deserved place among the successors, coming into the contest alongside each class of heirs. The paper aims to analyze the succession rights of the surviving spouse in the different succession systems, the one of Romano-Germanic tradition in the family of which our succession right is a part, the common-law system present in Great Britain and the mixed one of the province of Quebec.

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Analysis of Fraud Risk Regarding the Real Beneficiary in Relation to International Sanctions

Author(s): Florin Tudor / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The restrictive measures instituted by a number of international organizations and actors aim, first of all, at diminishing the military capabilities of the aggressors, by freezing some financial assets, putting some public or private entities, and officials on the sanctions blacklists, banning some import operations and export of dual-use items and other categories of goods prohibited by trade policy measures. Complying with these embargoes requires the use of risk analyses capable of neutralizing any attempt by aggressors to circumvent sanctions by using other destinations and international markets. The analysis of international transactions regarding the identification of the real beneficiary represents the most important challenge for the control authorities at border crossing points, and international cooperation regarding the exchange of information must represent a priority in the coming period. The present study analyzes the complex issue of sanctions imposed by the EU in the context of aggression in Ukraine and the mechanisms of using risk analysis to reduce the risk of fraud and violation of international embargoes.

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Freedom of Expression in Cyberspace: The Good and the Bad

Author(s): Carmen Moldovan / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The hegemony of Internet and social networks created an unprecedented environment for communication of opinions and ideas, a fundamental need for the information society. Freedom of expression is one of the most important digital rights and strongly connected to the idea of a fundamental right to access to the Internet (supported by Special Rapporteur Frank la Rue and other international bodies) as part of fundamental rights. The aim of the paper is to analyse the flexibility of the scope and limits of freedom of expression in Cyberspace having as a starting point the general accepted approach that the same safeguards are applicable. The debate also concerns the power relationship between the owners of different parts of Cyberspace and the holders of rights that will be addressed from two different perspectives: positive and negative consequences. The constant evolution and development of communication technologies supports all components of expression and can be easily observed. The negative effects are more sensitive as they imply dissemination of hate speech, incitement to discrimination, war propaganda, misinformation, manipulation, and fake news.

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New Technologies are Shaping Arbitral Proceedings

Author(s): Andrada Laura Tarmigan / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The aim of this article is to analyze the impact and changes brought by new technologies in international arbitration procedures, what are the prospects for the future development of these tools in a fast-paced environment and how participants are expected to adapt in these off-the chain disputes. The results obtained through the comparative method are relevant for professionals involved in international arbitration. Furthermore, we will analyze the potential disputes arising out of the technology itself and how are these technologies going to shape decision making on a short, medium and long term. We will refer to the manner in which the leading institutions in arbitration and dispute resolution services position themselves. Lastly, we will refer to the potential issues of the parties’ acceptance of the “digital justice” and the prospect of autonomous enforceable arbitral awards.

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Implications of ChatGPT Technology on Criminal Law

Author(s): Silviu-Gabriel Barbu,Vasile Coman / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The scientific community has been discussing for a long time about the potential of creating an artificial, non-biological, impartial machine with human intelligence, considering that such an innovation with emotional - and not only computational - intelligence could bring many benefits to society, including the legal world. Recently introduced (November 2022) in a more publicly accessible form, the ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) technology is one such artificial intelligence application, part of the OpenAI project, and is essentially built as a conversational interface with the potential to deliver results in a human-like manner. As an artificially intelligent chat-bot, ChatGPT has several functions subsumed to its use and performance, that are rather extensive, and there is a concern whether the ChatGPT technology may be used for judicial decision-making, in which context arises the question whether it can also be hijacked in order to commit criminal offences. The answer is positive, but accepting this fact raises some possible issues in criminal law enforcement practice such as establishing the guilt, the dialogue with the personal nature of the criminal liability, adapting the criminal sanction system to the specific environment of commission, and others, discussed in this article. ChatGPT is certainly the chat-bot of the moment and perhaps even of the year 2023. Formal artificial intelligence (AI) is still in its infancy, but despite its limitations, the ChatGPT technology can already be considered impressive in its timeliness and evolution compared to other automated chats or applications of robotics, as it has the capacity to communicate credibly and convincingly, as a human interlocutor and in real time.

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The Robot as a Natural or Legal Person. Another Perspective on the Concept of Person

Author(s): Cristina Elena Popa Tache,Marius Vasile Bârdan / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The word you will find in the interface is to understand the concept of a person and what skills a being must have to be a person. This material also examines the religious perspective on the issue announced in the title. Manufacturers and computer scientists involved in building and training robots for consumers will need to consider the distribution market sector and by implication, the beliefs of the people who are to use this type of artificial intelligence as a tool. In the biblical account of man, it is said that man was created by God by a triumphant counsel: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness', and by making a person capable of communication, it means that he is a person, because communication makes you a person, but a freely consented communication. The concept of a person has evolved over time so that in the Greek period the man who was not free could only express himself behind a mask, as in the performance of a character in a play today, then in the Roman world, as a man who was not free could only express himself by having a patron who gave social witness for the man to express himself freely. So, freedom of expression was an ability of the human person, of a natural person in the legal sense. The article tries to expose the chosen topic from the perspective of two authors with their particular opinions: the professor of law in communications and new technologies who sees the objective whole of things and the eminent student, Orthodox priest who comes up with particularly interesting arguments. In the preparation of this material, we used an introspective method with qualitative and quantitative values.

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Adapting Non-Contractual Liability Rules to Artificial Intelligence

Author(s): Vasile Nemeş,Gabriela Fierbințeanu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Current national liability rules are not adequate to deal with liability claims for damage caused by AI-based products and services. The specificity of AI systems, their complexity and especially their autonomy and opacity (the so-called "black box" effect) make it difficult for victims to identify who is liable and to prove liability claims. The European Commission's AI policies propose a holistic approach to liability, aiming at adaptations of product liability under the Product Liability Directive and specific harmonisation under the Proposal for a Directive on the adaptation of non-contractual liability rules to artificial intelligence. These two initiatives complement each other to form an effective global civil liability system. They respond to the scenarios in which the risks envisaged by the general framework provided by the Proposal for a Regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (AI Act) materialise. This paper proposes a first incursion into the liability frameworks for damage caused by AI systems as set out in the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the adaptation of the rules on non-contractual civil liability to artificial intelligence (the AI Liability Directive).

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Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Responsibilities in Public Financial Administration

Author(s): Olga Sovová,Zdeněk Fiala / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

New digital technologies, especially tools for gathering information about persons and legal entities, are inevitable in modern public administration. State financial services and the tax administration represent one of the most critical parts of the administrative bodies, creating vast databases of personal and economic data. The exploitation of various software tools, including artificial intelligence for collecting, grouping and evaluating data sets, poses questions about the legal responsibility of the public administration when using such efficient but also assailable tools to intrude into personal and business privacy and space. The paper examines the new trend in the European Union for utilising digital technologies for public financial services. Based on the Czech tax control experience, the paper highlights the procedure's possible risks and weak spots. The paper points out possible benefits both for addressees and public authorities. The paper focuses on the responsibility of the public authority for the accuracy, completeness, and protection of registered data. The authors underline the specifics of the legal responsibility for introducing artificial intelligence into state financial services. The paper concludes with business and legal practice proposals when interacting with public financial administration. The authors examine the mentioned challenges through desk research and analyses of European and national legal regulations. In their considerations and proposals, the authors also lean on their practical experience with public administration.

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