THE EVALUATION OF RUSSIA'S FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS GEORGIA FOLLOWING THE ‘ROSE REVOLUTION’

Author(s): Ekaterine Lomia / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

For more than twenty-eight years, following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russian-Georgian relations have been a substantial ground for mutual confrontation, sharp dispute, and a lack of trust. Continuous tensions and disagreements have adversely affected efforts to achieve a proper balance in bilateral relations between the neighboring countries and resulted in a number of direct and indirect confrontations. Whilst the Russian president seeks to restore Russia’s great power status, regain its past glory and control strategically important regions of the former Soviet space, Georgia, from the very first day of independence, tries to maintain its sovereignty and territorial integrity, develop modern state institutions, strengthen democratic values and integrate into the Euro-Atlantic structures. The paper aims to study Moscow’s current foreign policy strategy towards Georgia following the ‘Rose revolution’ and argues that Russia’s military intervention in Georgia, in August 2008, was a clear illustration of classical realism used by a great power in the XXI century. Russia actively uses hybrid warfare and regularly employs economic leverage on Georgia to eventually achieve its political ends in the Caucasus region.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

Author(s): Goran Ilik,Angelina Stanojoska / Language(s): English Issue: Suppl./2020

We’ve seen that living in a pandemic time is not easy at all. We had to stop our everyday lives, change the way we worked before, stay physically, but not socially distant to others, to postpone travelling for better times. Also, measures taken by states around the world, to slow the spread of the coronavirus, have shown that guaranteeing human rights and civil liberties during these times is and will be a challenge. The ongoing health crisis asked for extensive lockdowns, becoming also an economic and social crisis. It opened even deeper economic and social differences, affecting vulnerable social groups differently. States should use maximum action to save lives and slow the spread of the coronavirus, but should also minimize the negative consequences.

THE COVID-19 MOBILITY IMPACTS ON THE MIGRATION FLOW IN SOUTH-EAST EUROPE: THE SITUATION IN 2021 AND BEFORE 1989

Author(s): Rossen Koroutchev / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

In this paper, we analyze the current travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic imposed by the countries from South-East Europe and briefly compare them with those imposed by the Central European countries. By using official data collection of displacement tracking matrices and analyzing the porosity of the borders in this part of Europe, we research the impact of COVID-19 on human mobility and the related economic and social aspects. Discussions are presented regarding this impact on the travelers, the seasonal workers from some of the selected countries, and the immigrants from the Middle-East. A formal analysis is performed relating the current travel restrictions and the travel ban during the iron curtain.

CHINA’S DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO THE WESTERN BALKANS AND ITS IMPACT ON DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND DECISION-MAKING

Author(s): Ana Krstinovska / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

China’s development assistance to the Western Balkans has been little researched and aid-funded projects are often mistermed as Chinese investments. This article aimed to shed light on specific ‘China Aid’ disbursement and management procedures by examining the signed agreements and contracted projects in five countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, N. Macedonia, and Serbia during the period 2000-2020. The objective was to determine the impact of China’s development assistance on democratic governance and decision-making. Attride-Stirling’s thematic networks tool was used to analyze the procedures in each project cycle phase and their compliance with the principles of good governance and aid effectiveness. The findings suggest that the assistance, shaped by Chinese rules in combination with Western Balkans domestic agency, is marked by the opacity of the procedures, lack of accountability, disregard for rules in public finance management, and public procurement. Moreover, China could use its grant and loan agreements to influence sovereign decision-making on issues that affect China’s interests. To conclude, although China’s development assistance to the Western Balkans could benefit the recipients’ economic development, it also constrains their democratic governance and decision-making and serves China’s foreign policy interests.

RADICAL ISLAMISM: TRAJECTORIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND ABUSES IN AFRICA

Author(s): Peter O. O. Ottuh,Felix O. Erhabor / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

In Africa, radical and extremist Muslims are striving to transform society through violent change, claiming that African rulers are dictatorial and anti-Islamic; as a result, many African countries are experiencing serious human rights violations and abuses. Therefore, this paper examined radical Islamism and its trajectories of human rights violations and abuses in Africa and proffered workable solutions to the dilemma. To achieve the above aim, the paper employed historical and evaluative methods. The historical method was used to critically review the scholarly literature on radical Islamism and its human rights violations and abuses antecedents in Africa. At the evaluative level, the paper critically discussed the impact of human rights violations and abuses on the African nations and their citizens. The paper revealed that radical Islamism in Africa is driven by bad political leadership, poverty, poor education, unemployment, and religious exclusivism among others. The paper concluded that good governance, economic enhancement, and religious inclusiveness are key tools in discouraging and curbing radical Islamists in African countries.

Europejska Agencja Straży Granicznej i Przybrzeżnej (Frontex) wobec oskarżeń o naruszanie praw podstawowych w działaniach na Morzu Egejskim

Author(s): Aleksandra Kusztal / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2021

The subject of the paper is to present and analyse current accusations against the European Border and Coast Guard Agency - Frontex, in connection with documented in journalistic investigation cases of violations of fundamental rights of illegal migrants, within the framework of Operation Poseidon, conducted by the agency in the Aegean Sea. As the subject of the intended research procedure is specific, the adopted methodology was based on the application of the analytical-empirical model. Among the research methods used in the cognitive-analytical procedure, the dominant role was played by qualitative methods, including institutional and structural analysis and mediated observation through the exploration of original and secondary sources in the form of documents and press materials. The quantitative methods concern the analysis of numerical data describing migratory movements around Europe in 2020. The research issues addressed in the article concern the current migration situation at the EU's external borders, the sources and documentation of accusations against Frontex, the functioning of the EU's institutional and administrative structure under crisis conditions, instruments, and legal possibilities to prevent, assess and curb possible abuses. The value of the article is its exceptional topicality and its conclusion based on the logic of deduction. It leads to the summing-up that the crisis surrounding the accusations proves that both the European Union itself and the process of European integration are currently in deep crises: political, legal, institutional, and identity.

L´ATTIVITÀ DELLO SCAPHARI COME PRECEDENTE DEL CONTRATTO DE MOVIMENTAZIONE PORTUALE

Author(s): Tewise Yurena Ortega González / Language(s): Italian Issue: 2/2021

In this study we intend to briefly analyse one of the contracts that the Maritime Navigation Law classifies as „contracts auxiliary to navigation“, the port handling contract, trying to establish the existing connections between the current regulations in relation to the activities carried out by port operators, the contractual modality and the liability regime, as well as the activity carried out in the ports of ancient Rome by the professional staff of the scaphari.

L'INFLUENZA DI LITUS MARIS SULLA LEGISLAZIONE COSTIERA SPAGNOLA

Author(s): María Etelvina De las Casas León / Language(s): Italian Issue: 2/2021

The issue of litus maris is not a current concern to determining the coasts of individual countries. Roman law endeavours to analyze the question and above all to attend to the needs of a community. Although terminology may have evolved, the purpose has remained the same: concern for the environment and the legal regulation for the benefit of all mankind. When mentioning res communes omnium or res publicae, we ask ourselves whether they really have a different meaning or whether, on the contrary, we can consider them synonyms. In this sense, neither the sources, nor the doctrine is unanimous. From our point of view, however, everything boils down to a terminological and semantic problem, where the purpose is one and the same: to recognize a good of an entire community, which belongs to humanity and which we cannot make unlimited use of outside the legal system itself. Once again we find a topic that, although it seems contemporary, had already been taken into account in Roman jurisprudence and literature as well. And therefore, we see the impact and influence of Roman law on our contemporary legal system.

Słowo od Redakcji: Nowe stulecie RPEiS / Editorial: Into the second century of the Poznań Journal of Law, Economics and Sociology

Author(s): Marek Smolak / Language(s): English,Polish Issue: 1/2022

THE ROLE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN THE JUDICIARY SYSTEM: THE CASE OF 2016 JUDICIAL REFORM IN ALBANIA

Author(s): Bojana Hajdini,Gentian Skara / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2022

Corruption in the judiciary system has been considered by Albanian citizens and international organizations as deeply corrupt. In 2016 Albanian Parliament, supported by the EU and USA, adopted a judiciary reform to increase transparency, accountability, impartiality and citizens’ access to information. One way of preventing corruption and increasing citizens’ access to justice is by using information technology. This paper analyses the role of information and communication technology in preventing corruption in the Albanian judiciary system. The main research question is how and to what extent digitizing the judiciary contributes to preventing corruption in the judiciary system. The paper argues that the use of ICT in the judiciary system has been limited due to several factors, such as lack of legislation on the use of ICT in the judiciary system, absence of a unified automated case management system, lack of appropriate education or training of judiciary staff to use ICT and lack of reinvestments on ICT equipment in courts. The 2016 judicial reform, for the first time, emphasized the importance of digitizing the judiciary system in Albania. The paper concludes that digitizing the judiciary will increase integrity and prevent corruption in the judicial system.

LES CONTACTS DE L’EMPIRE ROMAIN AVEC LES HABITANTS DE LA SILÉSIE AUX PREMIERS SIÈCLES DE NOTRE ÈRE

Author(s): Piotr Sadowski / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2022

Today, Silesia is a large region located in the south-western part of Poland. A very small part of Silesia is currently in the Czech Republic and an even smaller part in Germany. In this paper, the author, Professor of the University of Opole, Piotr Sadowski, points to the examples evidencing the contacts between the ancient Romans and the inhabitants of Silesia at that time. He also asks about the nature of these contacts. He is convinced that the current cultural identity of Silesia, apart from Polish, German and Moravian factors, was also influenced by the achievements of ancient Roman culture. The author is aware of how many divergent views exist as to the ethnic affiliation of the inhabitants of Silesia in the first centuries of the Roman Empire. Probably at that time the representatives of various ethnic groups lived there, forming a union of tribes controlling the Аmber route. Numerous findings, especially the so-called Roman imports indicate that a number of Roman goods reached them - just recall a beautiful silver cup with plant and animal motifs from the 1st century AD found in Gosławice (today the part of Opole). The nature of Roman-Silesian contacts was influenced by the geo - political situation of peoples living between them. There was a time when Marcus Aurelius wanted to create two new provinces, Marcomanniа and Sarmatia. However, that did not happen. The Marcomannic Wars caused that trade relations in today's Silesia decreased and gave way to the political ones, as evidenced by the furnishings of the magnificent graves from Zakrzów (now the part of Wroclaw). Summing up, from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD, the lands of today's Silesia were under strong influence of imperium romanum, initially most of all economic, later more political.

THE LAW OF ROMAN EGYPT

Author(s): Sanja M. Gligić / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

Unlike Roman Law, Egyptian Law can be learned from individual legal documents. Since no written Egyptian Law and fact that a little has been preserved from a collection of laws (i.e., „Hermopolis Legal Code“), scholars traditionally get knowledge about Egyptian Law from contracts, deeds, family archives, judgments, wills and accounts of criminal trials. The special problem is the fact that the study of Egyptian Law is further complicated by pre-created dogmatic ideas about the superiority of Roman Law and jurisprudence. However, at the moment when Egypt became a Roman province, the Egyptian Law was applied in practice (which already took a lot from Greek Law at that moment) and at the same time the influence of Roman law began to be noticed.

LE DROIT FÉTIAL ET BELLUM IUSTUM DANS LE CONTEXTE DES GUERRES DACO-ROMAINES ET DE LA POLITIQUE IMPÉRIALE ROMAINE D’ANNEXION DES PROVINCES

Author(s): Teodor Sambrian / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2022

The existence of the Roman State, from its foundation to its disappearance, was disrupted by short interruptions, under the sign of the god Mars, war being an essential element of Roman society. Under these conditions, among the multitude of priestly colleges that operated in Rome since the most ancient times, the College of Fetiales had a particular importance from a political and institutional point of view. Its attributions were mainly related to the declaration of war and the monitoring of treaties concluded by Rome with other nations. The subject covered in this article is structured in the following sections: the supposedly controversial origin of the College of Fetiales; the content and nature of fetial law; the legal-religious rituals of the declaration of war; the adaptation of fetial law to the imperial status of the Roman State; the concept of „bellum iustum“ in the wars waged for the conquest of Dacia and its transformation into a Roman province; some thoughts on the Roman concept of bellum iustum piumque in the contemporary world.

THE DACIAN WAX TABLETS (TABULAE CERATAE) FROM ALBURNUS MAIOR: A PROVINCIAL TESTIMONY OF THE RELIABILITY OF METROPOLITAN LAW

Author(s): Valerius M. Ciucă,Bob Mircea Dan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

Dacia was, between 106 and 275 AD a Roman province , known under the surname of Dacia Felix. Our contribution takes advantage on a circumstance, at least as happy as the province was considered to be: the existence of the wax tablets of Alburnus Maior (nowadays Roșia Montană, in Alba County, Romania . Also known as Triptychs, some are valuable sources of historical and legal informations, while others simply record scenes of social life. Uncovered between 1786 and 1855 out of the former provincial golden mines, they are a priceless account of the way locals transplanted the Roman Classical Law. In fact, this very direct application of Roman Law in the Dacia province was, among other Transylvanian epigraphic testimonies , also demonstrated by these waxed tablets (tabulae ceratae Alburnense ). Those juridically relevant were studied by Romanian legal historians such as Ion Peretz, Ion Baltariu , Vladimir Hanga . Our purpose here is to give a brief account on how the vulgarisation of Roman Classical Law took place in this part of the Empire.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE ROMAN PROVINCE DACIA

Author(s): Maria Albu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

At the time of the conquest of Dacia, Rome was in terms of the form of government, in the phase of the Principate, the era inaugurated by Octavian Augustus. In terms of territory, Rome ruled a vast territory stretching from England to the Middle East and from Gaul to Egypt. Immediately after the conquest, Dacia entered the process of administrative, economic and military integration, as provided by the rules of Roman public law. According to these rules, it was organized as a separate province, with its own administrative, military and fiscal authority.

SERBIA ROMAN PROVINCE. NIŠ IMPERIAL CITY

Author(s): Marija Ignjatović / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

Ancient Niš, better known as Naisus, was a developed settlement with a certain population that tended to grow over time. Historical sources say that the city had the status of a Roman municipality, which means that it had a very organized system of life. The size of ancient Naisus has not yet been fully determined, but considering the existence of the suburban part of Mediana, as well as the widespread villas around Mediana, it can be said that it occupied a good part of the Niš basin, crossed by the river Nišava as the main and largest watercourse in that region and that as an impregnable military stronghold, it was an important economic and cultural center of the Roman Empire. Naisus occupied a central position in the Roman province of Upper Moesia, which spread over the territory of today's Serbia. The original military fortification was created in the last decades of the 1st century BC on the right bank of Nišava and was the center of the various tribes: Dardanians, the Thracians and, briefly, on two occasions, the Celts, whose homeland is distant Gaul. A new period in the history and life of Naisus began at the beginning of the 4th century AD with the arrival of Constantine on the throne of the Roman Empire, the Roman emperor, one of the historical rulers who completely redirected the future of not only Christian Europe, but also the civilization known to us today.

ROMAN LAW AND THE SERBIAN MEDIEVAL STATE

Author(s): Nebojša Ranđelović / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

The geographical space of the development of the Serbian medieval state was part of the origin and development of Roman law. The Serbian medieval state and its law would inevitably be created on the basis of the Byzantine tradition. The Byzantine Empire itself was the Eastern Roman Empire both by tradition and by all the features of society, state, law, and even by name. Its law and state organization, adapted to the new social relations and feudal order, were not negations, but a continuation of the Russian state-legal tradition. In such an environment, the Serbian medieval society and the Serbian state developed on the foundations of this tradition, incorporating their customary law into it. Serbian medieval legislation, rounded off by Dušan's Code, is a material witness to the aforementioned postulates.

ALBANIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE LIGHT OF OPENING ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS: CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES

Author(s): Ferdinant Xhaferaj,Gentian Skara / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2023

This paper aims to analyze the Europeanization of Albanian public administration in light of opening negotiations. The main research question is whether and to what extent Albanian public administration can approximate domestic legislation and ensure effective implementation. The core methodology in this paper is the traditional legal doctrine, which is based on analyses and interpretations of the EU acquis and Albanian legislation with a specific focus on reforming public administration. A reference to secondary sources in the Europeanization of public administration enriches the study. The paper argues that Albania has improved the legal framework for public administration in compliance with the EU acquis. However, it fails to ensure the proper implementation due to the following challenges: i) politicized bureaucracy, ii) the lack of capacity, iii) lack of public consultation with stakeholders, and iv) the inability to put in sound planning mechanisms and to carry out a realistic assessment. The paper concludes that Albania must establish a professional public administration with sufficient knowledge of EU acquis and adequately qualified staff to harmonize the domestic legal system and ensure proper implementation.

Non-State Actors in Nation-State Cyber Operations

Author(s): Agata Małecka / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

Since cyberspace has become another dimension of state competition, the number of nation-state cyber operations has increased significantly. In the recent past, they were associated with cyber espionage (political and industrial), and this is still in use. Many of them have taken the form of ransomware attacks, blocking access to data. Over a period of several years, there were numerous instances of cyber operations aimed at manipulating the interpretation of information. These operations utilized social media to influence election outcomes in democratic political systems by shaping voter behavior. One of the biggest problems in the analysis of nation-state cyber operations is attribution. Nevertheless, the actors conducting cyber operations are becoming better known. One of them is a category of Advanced Persistent Threat (APT). The main aim of the article is to identify the direction of the development of nation-state cyber operations, which is increasingly determined by non-state actors’ behavior. This requires highlighting the implications in terms of international law and the security strategies used by specific states – in both cases, in the process of ongoing creation. The main research problem was defined as the following question: How do states use APT to conduct cyber operations, and what are and could be the effects of the APT activities (an attempt to identify the characteristics of contemporary and future nation-state cyber operations based on an analysis of nation-state cyber operations in recent years)? In order to achieve the defined goal, the author primarily used qualitative methods: content analysis – in particular, institutional analysis and statistical data analysis.

LINGUA IURIS

Author(s): Stoyan P. Ivanov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2024

The article considers the language of law. Particular attention is paid to the position of Latin as a lingua iuris from Antiquity through the Middle Ages and Modern Times, as a main instrument outlining the legal principles and their conceptual systematization. The legal Latin terminology used today is examined in the light of the general development of law in Europe as a common and unified sustainable legal vocabulary in modern languages, that unites the different national legal systems and supports the concept that Roman law is ius commune, on which the European legal culture stands.