Around the Bloc: Former Putin Aide Suffered ‘Blunt Force’ Head Injuries
Medical examiners conclude injuries led to the aide’s death, but exact circumstances still unclear.
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Medical examiners conclude injuries led to the aide’s death, but exact circumstances still unclear.
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The aim of this article is to classify the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia in light of international law. Firstly, the Russian armed activities are qualified through the lens of use of force and it is shown that Russia committed an aggression. Secondly, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is qualified according to the law of armed conflict, not only identifying the applicable norms of law of armed conflict but examining whether atrocities have been committed and whether they are war crimes or mere crimes or acts of terror. The article posits that there is an international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine and in addition a non-international one between Ukrainian insurgents and governmental forces. The methodology used in the article is legal analysis of documents and international law doctrine.
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On 11 March 2014 Crimea declared independence. Ukraine and international society has not recognised that act. However Crimea’s independence was recognised by Russia and on 18 March 2014 an agreement on the accession of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation was signed. Many countries and international organisations have condemned that step, viewing it as illegal annexation. Regardless of how this situation is treated however, it is at present a fait accompli. Such a situation evokes legal consequences both in the internal law of Ukraine and Russia as well as on the plane of international law. The residents of Crimea appear to be in the worst situation. Legal certainty is a fiction for them now. There are also problems on the international plane. Despite the fact that in the opinion of international society Crimea remains an integral part of Ukraine, in practice there are many conflicting problems of a legal nature that cannot be solved, at least for the time being.This article analyses the legality and certain legal consequences of the “accession” of Crimea to Russia and the effect of this accession on the legal situation for residents of Crimea. The article concludes that legal situation of Crimeans will not improve anytime soon, and that the legal problems which have arisen on the international plane will not be resolved soon either.
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This article provides an overview of “memory laws” in Europe, reflecting upon what may be called the “asymmetry” of such laws. It then looks at the special case of Poland and its troubled experience with memory laws; it considers the question of whether, in the eyes of the law -- genocide, and in particular the Holocaust -- is so “special” that its public denials warrant legal intervention. It also looks at the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and its (not necessarily coherent) “doctrine” on memory laws and their consistency, or otherwise, with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (and in particular with freedom of expression as laid down in Art. 10). The article concludes by asserting that even if we take the law as an indicator of European public memory, there is no consensus on the past, except perhaps for the special case of the Holocaust. The main challenge lies in determining whether memory laws, defined by some as social engineering and the imposition of “imperative” versions of memory, are consistent with the principles inherent in open, democratic and free societies in Europe. This challenge remains unmet.
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Book review of Ryan Goodman, Derek Jinks, Socializing States: Promoting Human Rights through International Law, Oxford University Press, New York: 2013.
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Former International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) spokeswoman arrested over the non-payment of a fine she received for revealing that the tribunal had withheld key information on the Srebrenica massacre.
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In a rare loss for the UN tribunal’s prosecutors, a major figure in Serbia’s wars with Croatia and Bosnia is acquitted of serious war crimes.
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International standards of the right for the freedom of thought, conscience and religion as well as the corresponding case law of the European Court of Human Rights have not been sufficiently studied in the Ukrainian science of international public law. Contemporary researchers should have a clear understanding of what exactly comprises the catalog of international standards of this right, and how such standards are interpreted by the European Court. The Court in its 2014 decision S. A. S. v. France drew such a catalogue in a unique way. It is therefore important to analyze it for understanding and implementing this right. The understanding of standards of the right for the freedom of conscience and religion is not static. It is constantly developed by the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The Court’s decision S. A. S. v. France is one of the most recent and, perhaps, most controversial decisions on Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in which the Court drew a catalogue of such standards and gave its interpretation. The analysis of the most recent case law of the Court determines the actuality of this study. The purpose of the article is to make an analysis of the main standards of the right for the freedom of thought, conscience and religion in their interpretation by the European Court in its 2014 decision S. A. S. v. France. The article analyzes nine key standards of the right for the freedom of thought, conscience and religion as outlined in S. A. S. v. France decision. These are the principles that the Court examines each time while considering applications for violations of Article 9. From a researcher’s point of view S. A. S. v. France decision is both interesting and helpful, because here the Court dedicated a special section to the key principles which it had drawn in its previous case law. The difficulty and a controversial character of the decision prompted the Court to make a compilation of its former case law in order to justify its position. This make the decision extremely helpful to the researcher because it became a certain general commentary created by the Court, and which will be referred to as to the main list of rules and principles used by the Court in many years to come.
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We study the basic scientific approaches to the definition of «quality of law». The attention is paid to the need of establishing quality criteria regulations and in particular the law. Analyzes the proposed quality criteria of law. Disclosed property law, characterizing its internal and external form. The legal technique is aimed at the formation of a perfect legal act and its content. This should ensure a high quality of both statute and bylaw, that is, its compliance with all meaningful criteria and formal legal requirements. Indeed, the concept of «quality of law» is characterized by a set of properties and relationships that should have any qualitatively perfect law and, accordingly, to be provided to it at the design stage. Therefore, the term "quality of law" is central to the legal technique. In deciding the ratio «quality of law - the effectiveness of law», may be denoted that, the quality of the law acts as a measure and performance criterion of the developed legislation.
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Article 1 of the First Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter – Art. P1-1) states that every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. Thus in order for this article to be applicable, the applicant has to show that the right, which he alleges to be violated by the respondent state, constitutes his possession. The concept of “possessions” within Art. P1-1 was analyzed by foreign scholars, such as S. Drooghenbroeck, U. Kriebaum, C. Schreurer, L. Sermet and others. The problem was also addressed by the Judge of Constitutional Court of Ukraine – S. Shevchuk. The main objective of the paper is to provide general criteria of what should be deemed as possession in the context of Art. P1-1. The case law of European Court of Human Rights allows to conclude that in order to be deemed as a possession, the subjective right in question should meet three following requirements: (1) it must have pecuniary value, which can be measured in money; (2) it must be civil in nature (as distinct from rights based on public law); (3) it must be certain enough to be enforced by the court (in contrast to the mere hope of some advantages). Conclusions of the research. As a conclusion it should be noted that in its pursuit to protect fundamental rights of a person European Court of Human Rights tends to equate legal notion of possessions with economic concept of welfare.
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Abstract: Free circulation of judgments within the EU of the authentic instruments and agreements in matrimonial matters and in matters of parental responsibility is provided for in Regulation (EC) no.2201/2003 of the Council of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and in matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) no. 1347/2000. For two categories of judgments, this Regulation provides for the suppression of exequatur. In this article we intend to continue analyzing the suppression of the exequatur under the situation of judgments in family law matters, relating to the return of the child in the cross-border cases, on judgments passed in another Member State.
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The appeal against the tax decision is intended to provide the tax payers’ access to the courts of law in order to correct the abuses or inaccuracies of the tax authorities. Driven by the importance of collecting taxes and duties and by the applicable prevailing regime of public law, the procedure becomes antagonistic to the fulfilment of citizens’ rights in the Romanian law.In this destitute context, the judicial practice and case law of the Constitutional Court executed a series of procedural impediments, which bear away the appeal filed against fiscal documents from the common contentious administrative law and shaped its own legal regime. The preliminary procedure or the petition for pardon seems to be a prerogative exclusively designed at the disposal of the tax body, which significantly restricts the access to the courts of law. In combination with the difficulties of performing to do obligations against the fiscal administrative authorities, the whole non-contentious proceedings actually become a difficult step for the taxpayer, which may use only inefficient or inaccessible remedies.The New Code of fiscal procedure relieves the conditions for the applications for suspension of operation of the tax administrative document; however, it does not bring any systematic amendments, intended to correct the existing failures. The only real remedy available in this legislative context remains the mandatory case law of the European Court of Human Rights. However, the nature of public law of the fiscal field declines the applicability of article 6 of the Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for the method of challenging the tax decision.Instead, in respect of the orders of the tax authorities issued in relation to the assets values of citizens, the European protection is provided under article 1 of Protocol no. 1 additional to the Convention. The possible interference upon a person’s assets (examined within the autonomous meaning of the Convention) requires an effective, accessible, quick and inexpensive appeal, according to article 13 of the respective Convention, before a court which should examine the alleged infringement.This approach deals with the examination of the compatibility of the appeal against the tax decision in this legal background imposed by the case law of the European Court, mainly dealing with the applicable essential aspects of the procedural law. The failings of legislation, the behaviour of the tax authorities and the case law of the national courts may be deemed as insurmountable impediments for the fulfilment of certain protected rights at the constitutional and international level.In the absence of the much-awaited upheaval by the new Code of fiscal procedure, the courts shall be in charge with rectifying the omissions or indecisions of the fiscal lawmaker by their practice, in order to provide the taxpayers the full exercise of their fundamental rights. It remains to be seen to which extent the current legal background provides the courts of law with the necessary instruments for achieving this objective.
More...Conflictul în timp al normelor de conflict. Homo, fuge!
This is a critical study of the article 207 (1) of Law 71/2011 on the implementation of Law 287/2009 on the Civil Code, according to which the new rules of conflict shall be enforced immediately, in all the cases that come in for judgement in a court of law or before any other competent authority after the entry into force of the New Civil Code (NCC) that is, October 1st 2011. The legislator did not took into account for reference the date that legal relationship containing elements of extraneity come to life, but the date a court of law (or public notary or any other public authority) is vested with the case, making no distinction, in that regard, between legal relationships that have entirely produced their effects prior to the entry into force of the new code and those that produce effects later on. In the case of the latter, also, there is no distinction made between the effects that have been consumed and those that are to be produced in the future, after the 1st of October 2011.In the case of relationships born before the application of the new rule of conflict and which fully produced their effects until such date – such as, for instance, when the succession was opened under the former code, but which proceed before the notary public or, as the case may be, are pending after the coming into effect of the code – we are in the presence of a retroactive application of the new conflict rule, that contradicts the constitutional principle of nonretroactivity of laws [enshrined in article 15 (2) Romanian Constitution]. The rule of conflict is not a „procedural” rule, it cannot hold suspended the private relationship (Lebensverhältnis) until judgement or until a notary public or any other authority is called upon to issue a ruling, refusing to transform it into a legal relationship, but, on the contrary, it is enforced as soon as the generating act or fact came into being, determining the applicable law and transforming therefore the relation into legal relationship. Once the succession is opened – to take this example on – it is governed, form the very moment of its opening, by a given material law (lex successionis), determined according to localization criteria set forth by the conflict rule then in effect. Any rights and obligations of heirs (be they legal, testamentary or contractual, as the case may be) shall be transmitted upon the death of the estate author being „pervaded” by the material law which was designated as competent.
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The subject matter of this discussion is the issue of fixed structures of prison pastoral care in Poland. The author pointed out that although the Catholic pastoral care is present in all prisons, there are no legally binding regulations governing the pastoral care status. This may compromise the exercise of individual religious freedom of the inmates and the status of chaplains. A similar concern may also be expressed by the followers of other religions held in prisons. In addition, the article highlights the limited effectiveness of pastoral councils at the prison headquarters and in the field, as well as indicates the consequent danger of limiting the freedom of conscience and religion of persons deprived of their libertyThe subject of this paper are guarantees of religious freedom – in an individual, community and institutional dimension – included in the concordat between the Holy See and the Republic of Cape Verde on 10 June 2013. Prepared over many years and concluded 37 years after the independence of the Republic of Cape Verde, it was signed by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, who represented the Holly See, and Jorge Alberto da Silva Borges, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cape Verde. The regulation of this convention (which consists of a preamble and 30 articles) provides for the legal status of the Catholic Church in reference to more than twenty detailed issues, which is typical of the so-called exhaustive concordats, which include the whole range of issues both parties are interested in. When describing a concordat, it needs to be mentioned that what is striking in them is above all full respect and appreciation of the rule of religious freedom, in all its dimensions and aspects.
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This article deals with the issue of European Union citizenship.Since 1992, both the Treaties and the case law of the Court of Justice havehelped to create a direct and evolving bond of citizenship between the individualand the Union. Any person who holds the nationality of an EU memberstate is automatically also an EU citizen. EU citizenship is additional to and doesnot replace national citizenship. Moreover, European citizenship is evolving notonly as a direct bond between the citizen and the Union but also as a sphereof relationships between the citizen and all the member states. That aspect ofcitizenship guarantees all the nationals the right to move freely throughout theterritory of the Union, as well as the right to reside in any member state.
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The opinion shows that, specifying the range of entities that can participate in closed committee meetings, the Standing Orders of the Sejm expressly states that such meetings may be attended by Deputies who are not members of that committee and the persons whose participation the committee deems indispensable. There is no legal basis for the admissibility of participation of MEPs in closed meetings of Sejm committees that involve classified information. The author of the opinion notes that the possible attendance of a Member of the European Parliament at such a meeting would implicate the recognition by the Commission of their attendance “as indispensable” and the requirement to present of an appropriate security clearance.
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The aim of the proposal is to provide a uniform way to fill the current legal gap in those EU Member States which have not yet adopted legislation specifically on supply of digital content, and the harmonization of the legal systems of those countries that have already adopted such a legislation. Its entry into force will prevent particularization of national rules on liability for failure to perform the obligations arising from contracts for the supply of digital content and for the improper performance of obligation, including the lack of conformity of the digital content with the contract. As a result, it will prevent fragmentation of the digital content market. Entry into force of the proposed directive should improve legal protection of consumers in the event of non-compliance with the contract of digital content received from their suppliers. The proposed directive will have a significant impact on the legal situation of suppliers of digital content. Worth consideration is the removal of defects identified in the opinion that raise doubt as to its legislative correctness.
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The aim of the proposed directive is full harmonization of national legislation on consumer goods in relation to conformity with the contract for distance sale, the seller’s liability for lack of conformity of goods with such contract and under the commercial guarantees. The proposal causes no legislative objections. Its entry into force requires implementation through an amendment of the Civil Code. The implementation of the directive may lead to re-fragmentation of the legal system as concerns the liability for the lack of conformity of goods with the contract. In the case, indeed, the implementation of the proposal will mean the creation of a specific rules relating solely to consumer contracts for a distance sale, and will result in establishing a particular legal regime governing the seller’s liability for one of the many types of sales contracts, distinguished upon the way of its conclusion.
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