Ante Gotovina case: an error of law which led to innocence?

Author(s): Wiktor Hebda / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2021

The breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 30 years ago still has a substantial impact on the post-Yugoslav countries which proclaimed independence. Bearing in mind that the breakup also generated a military conflict, e.g. in Croatia, the restoration of Serbian-Croatian relations remains problematic. One of the challenges is passing a fair judgment on people responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established for this reason in particular. Ante Gotovina – a Croatian general, was one of those indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in connection with the military operation “Oluja” during which some heinous acts of crime took place. Gotovina played a clear and primary role in this operation, and therefore his actions were the main count of the indictment, firstly, for the prosecution and then for the Trial Chamber of ICTY. However, the sentence of 24 years imprisonment was never carried out following a successful appeal. The Appeals Chamber did not uphold the verdict of the Trial Chamber owing to a serious legal error and, consequently, it acquitted Gotovina of all the charges. This issue became yet another source of Serbian-Croatian conflict in connection with the most important people held responsible for the crimes committed in 1991-1995

The process of reconciliation between Serbia and Kosovo and the international legal strategies of the EU States, the USA, and Russia

Author(s): Małgorzata Andrzejczak-Świątek / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2021

The aim of this article is to analyse the international legal and political process of reconciliation between Serbia and Kosovo in terms of its impact on the scope of development directions and strategies of the European Union countries as well as Russia and the USA. Particular emphasis was placed on the treatment of these issues in the light of the activities of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office. The main theses assumed for the purposes of this article are as follows: firstly, that the policy of reconciliation between Serbia and Kosovo is multidimensional, including the necessity of the process of international criminal liability for the crimes committed by both states, while at the same time influencing the dilemmas of the development directions of individual European countries, but also of the European Union and the United States. In addition, the legal and political stabilization of the Balkan region, especially in the context of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, and the possibility of cooperation with these states as part of intergovernmental international organizations, is strategically extremely important for the EU, the USA, as well as for Russia. The Author critically analyses issues using polemics with the standpoint presented in the doctrine of the subject as well as interpreting selected instruments of international law and Kosovo’s national law. The deliberations resulted in conclusions as to the determinants in terms of the directions of the legal and political development of the EU and Russia resulting from the complicated process of reconciliation and mutual settlement of sins by Serbia and Kosovo.

The Principle of Non-refoulment within the Deportation Procedure, Admission to the Country, Right to Life and the Freedom of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment According to the Turkish Legislation on Temporary Protection Regime

Author(s): Joanna Kuruçaylıoğlu / Language(s): English Issue: 14/2021

This article elaborates on the non-refoulement principle regarding deportation procedure, security, and entry to the country (Turkey) under the 2014 Temporary Protection Regulation, and the 2013 Law on Foreigners and International Protection. According to the document presented by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner “(…) the principle of non-refoulement guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm. This principle applies to all migrants at all times, irrespective of migration status”.1 The rights of refugees and asylum seekers in mass influx situations are recognized by UNHCR Executive Committee resolutions and general international law.2 Thus, it is necessary to analyze the non-refoulement rule as inseparable part of globally accepted principles: the right to life and the freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The article describes the development and violations of the said rule, focusing on the pertinent current Turkish legislation.

Prawo do czystego powietrza

Author(s): Kamila Doktór-Bindas / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2020

The issue of clean air is one of the most important problems of the modern world. Air pollution has no borders, therefore its protection is primarily the domain of international law, which is increasingly striving to strengthen this protection. The Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 contains a number of provisions concerning the environment - for example, program norms that determine the tasks of public authorities such as preventing the negative health consequences of degradation of the environment, or the norms that contains the right to be informed about the quality of the environment and its protection). However, it is disputed whether the right to clean air can be considered as one of the fundamental rights that are subject to constitutional protection. The article shows the most important legal problems related to clean air protection: essential postulates of the legal doctrine, key legal regulations, and the most important court decisions that may affect the way this law is perceived in the near future.

Multilingualism, Francophony and the Perspectives of the Romanian Education

Author(s): Titus Corlățean / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

According to the relevant norms of national and international law, the right to education is consecrated as a fundamental human right. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, as prescribed by the UN 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development, included as Goal no. 4 the “quality education.” Multilingualism in international relations and organizations and within the national education systems represents important pillars from this perspective. The Francophone identity and its cultural, educational, and political dimensions are essential parts of this topic. The COVID-19 pandemic’s dramatic impact on human development and education increased their relevance and necessity nevertheless. Romania is an important actor of the organization called “Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie” (OIF), including at the level of national school and university educational systems in French language and promotes through political European, and international mechanisms and policies the principle of multilingualism.

CONVENTION FOR INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS AND THE INTERNAL LAW

Author(s): Majlinda Belegu / Language(s): English Issue: Special/2021

Vienna Convention is one of the most important conventions on trade of goods. It is one of the unified conventions on transport of goods from a country to the other. This convention had a unification effect towards unifying the obligatory law in the entire world. It has directly influenced the international trade and the transport of goods as well as the relationships between countries on the trade and the transport. It had influenced a lot the interstate relationships related to the free market and the customs and their unification, especially those between neighboring states that aspire membership in various international organizations. Hence it has achieved to unify the civil law in the entire world which was not achieved by drafting a Civil Code in Europe even though it was an attempt. Vienna Convention has its structure which is divided into several articles that are part of most of the domestic legislations in the countries of Europe. The author using methods of comparison analysis, systemic analysis and the historical analysis tries to analyze the impact of Vienna convention in the Kosovo positive domestic legislation.

The Enforcement of Public International Law Principles in Romanian Diplomacy on the Verge of World War One

Author(s): Cristinel Ioan Murzea / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

Around World War One, Romanian diplomacy had to occupy a position that satisfied the fundamental strategic objectives of the Romanian nation, namely the achievement of the Romanian national unified state.

Библиотеката на СЮБ представя

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 10/2021

Legal Regulation of Public Governance in Finland – an Illusion of Predictable Public Administration?

Author(s): Niina Mäntylä,Laura Perttola,Kristian Siikavirta / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2015

Legal coherence and predictable decision-making are the cornerstones of Finnish administrative law. The aim of this research is to analyze the factors that make administrative decisions unpredictable in Finland today. Why is the challenge so significant for the authorities? The factor analysis revealed six main features affecting predictability in the legal regulation of Finnish public governance: the increasing use of soft law, the devolution of government, deregulation, the changing role of the individual, the blurring of the division between the public and the private sector and the influence of international and EU-law.

Odkrywanie Lemkina

Author(s): Piotr Madajczyk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 29/2021

Review of: Ryszard Szawłowski,Rafał Lemkin. Polski prawnik, twórca pojęcia „genocyd” (ludo-bójstwo) oraz inicjator i główny architekt konwencji ONZ o genocydzie z 9 grudnia1948. Biografia intelektualna, Wydawnictwo Akademickie Sedno, Warszawa 2020,ss. 652.

EUROPOS SĄJUNGOS INSTITUCIJOS KAIP REGIONINĖS TARPTAUTINĖS VISUOMENĖS STRUKTŪROS DALIS

Author(s): Vytautas Isoda / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 1 (47)/2017

The totality of cross-border interactions in Europe in scholarly literature on international relations is often defined as “regional international society”, i.e. a social system of a smaller scale than global international society. From the sociological standpoint, social systems (or societies) consist of institutionalized practices. Among these practices there are primary institutions, which define and constitute types of actors and types of actions, and secondary institutions purposefully established by the same actors. Sovereignty, territoriality, international law, diplomacy, the balance of power, conflict resolution and a few other are the oldest primary institutions of the Westphalian state system in and outside Europe. The newer ones, such as human rights and democracy, incrementally evolved in the 19-20th century and supplement the existing Westphalian system. The aim of this study was to identify the primary international institutions of the European Economic Community (now the European Union) which was created after WWII as well as to evaluate the compatability of the new institutional order with that of the Westphalian model. The author examined the functioning of such primary institutions as supra-nationalism, subsidiarity, harmonization and micro-regionalism and drew the conclusion that the newest EU institutions are in conflict with the Westphalian ones and create new types of international actors, supranational as well as subnational, that are already recognized as peers among states within the context of diplomacy, international law and international trade. How the latent inter-institutional tensions will be solved in the future will depend not only on EU member states but also on countries outside it forced to coexist with the EU in the Westphalian world.

РИМСКИТЕ ФЛОТИ. МЕЖДУ ИНТЕГРАЦИЯТА И ГРАЖДАНСТВОТО

Author(s): Maria Casola / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2021

In the study I Intend to examine some profiles relating to the organization of military fleets in the ancient Mediterranean and to integration policies in the military field, to their recruitment which have their roots in antiquity and, significantly, in the experience of Roman law.

THE ROMAN ADMINISTRATION IN DACIA AND THE XIII LEGION OF GEMINA

Author(s): Maria Albu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

Administration has always been full of dynamics in time and space, and the period of Roman conquest in Dacia is a very important one for the national history of Romania but also of Europe. Apulum, became in Roman times, the largest city in Dacia, the location being on the place where the city of Alba Iulia is located today. Here the residence of the general government of the three Dacians was established and it was a strong administrative center but it also played a rolein the Romanization of the population. Also in Apulum we find the 13th Legion of Gemina, an elite legion, in the Roman Camp of Apulum.

Has the CJEU Made the First Step to Put a Stop to the Criminalisation of Migration? Commentary to the Judgement in the Case of JZ in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author(s): Anna Magdalena Kosińska / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2021

The paper presents a critical discussion of the CJEU judgment in the JZ case (C 806/18), in which the Court interpreted Article 11 of Directive 2008/115 that regulates entry ban issuance. The author asks a question of whether an entry ban as a measure limiting the right to free movement has a moral and legal ground in international law and EU law. Moreover, the author focuses on the problem of the criminalisation of irregular migration - both in the context of the established line of the Court’s case law and in the case of a vague national law standard that penalizes illegal stays - the possibility to apply the criminal law concept of error in law and thus exclusion of criminal liability of an illegal migrant.

Russia’s Quest for Regional Hegemony: Appearances vs. Realities

Author(s): Silviu Nate / Language(s): English Issue: 02 (24)/2021

Increasingly, Russia’s hegemonic decline is worsening the regional security climate, making Russia’s cooperation with other actors difficult. By connecting politically disadvantageous interdependencies and operating effectively in grey areas, Russia undermines the institutional legitimacy of aggressed states and discredits a series of processes with echoes in the nation’s consciousness, shattering the societal resilience that is the foundation of state sovereignty. In order to cope with Russia’s pressure, the Black Sea coastal states need to improve their ability to maximize specific common foreign policy objectives in order to increase the security capacity of their common geographical region. Violating the sovereignty and independence of other states has become a common practice for Russia. This attitude reflects a deficit in understanding the democratic framework of European civilization and is also undermining of the system of international law.

Making the Crimean Sanctions Work: What Ukraine and the West Can Do to Increase the Efficiency of the Sanctions Regime

Author(s): Yuliya Kazdobina / Language(s): English Issue: 01 (23)/2021

The Crimean package of Western sanctions is supposed to stay in force until Russian troops leave the occupied peninsula. It has had a significant economic impact on Crimea’s economy but has failed to check the continuing militarisation of Crimea as well as human rights and international humanitarian law violations. The package is rather strong; yet, Russia has adapted to the restrictive measures and has learned to bypass some of them. The article argues that the occupation of Crimea has to be viewed in a wider context; violations of the sanctions should be investigated and corrected where necessary, and additional sanctions should be imposed.

Belarusian Authorities’ Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic as a Security Threat: From Violating Individual Rights to Deepening the State’s Vulnerability

Author(s): Stefania Kolarz / Language(s): English Issue: 03 (21)/2020

Taking into consideration that many legal systems qualify a pandemic as a state of emergency justifying limitations of citizens’ and human rights, the questions worth asking are: To what extent may the opposite (not taking any actions and downplaying the problem) lead to human rights violation and what are the possible consequences thereof for the security of both the individual and the state? This issue will be addressed through an assessment of the response of Belarus to COVID-19 from the perspective of internal (human rights and well-being of individuals) and external (hybrid threats) security.

Hybrid Warfare as a Threat to International Security

Author(s): Margarita Biryukova / Language(s): English Issue: 03 (21)/2020

In the 21st century, states employ concealed ways to destabilise adversaries and achieve geopolitical goals, thus resorting to hybrid warfare. This may include economic pressure, interference in political affairs, cyber-attacks, disinformation, and other means. Considering the most recent manifestations of hybrid warfare between states, the dilemma is how to build nations’ resilience to such threats. Additionally, international law does not have a robust system to face the contemporary threat of hybrid warfare. This paper focuses on hybrid warfare, drawing on the example of the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and analyses it from the international law perspective.

Conventional Diplomacy vs. Digital Reality

Author(s): Viktoriia Gulenko / Language(s): English Issue: 02 (20)/2020

Rapidly changing environmental conditions, technological development, and the emergence of artificial intelligence inevitably encourage diplomats to seek ways to remain relevant given the volume of information, speedup of the processes, and the need to improve the quality of services and change communication methods. Will diplomacy remain competitive in the era of new threats and opportunities? This article provides a glance at the alternatives to be used along with traditional tools of diplomacy to fulfill complex multifunctional diplomatic tasks for the benefit of foreign policy.

Protracted Conflicts’ Resolution: Lessons of the Greece-Turkey Conflict for the Ukraine-Russia Case

Author(s): Nadiia Koval / Language(s): English Issue: 03 (9)/2017

The article analyses the Greek-Turkish conflict as an example of a protracted international conflict, which proved to be resilient to the years of resolution attempts. Some possible applications of its lessons to the current state and future development of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict are suggested. Special attention is paid to the prospects and limitations of using international legal instruments.