Conflict and Diplomacy: Crimea In Darkness, Part 2
As its power supply slowly returns to normal, TOL looks at how the people of Crimea are coping with blackouts and shortages. You can read part one here.
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As its power supply slowly returns to normal, TOL looks at how the people of Crimea are coping with blackouts and shortages. You can read part one here.
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Politically decentralized along ethnic lines, Bosnia lags behind fellow Balkan countries on road to joining the EU.
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Security chief says increased threat from Islamic militants was expected.
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Russia accuses Ukrainian military pilot in murder of two journalists in the eastern war zone.
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Two prominent members of a war veterans’ group have been attacked in the past year.
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This paper analyzes the jurisdiction issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union (from 2014 to 2015), concerning the subject of professional, medical activities. Judgments of the CJEU concern the following issues: – permanent deferral from blood donation of men who have had sexual relations with another men; – consequences of failures of medical products, where safety requirements are particularly high; – whether unfertilised human ova whose division and further development have been stimulated by parthenogenesis may be qualified as ‘human embryo’; – possibility of prior authorization refusal by the competent institution to go to a territory of another Member State to receive there relevant treatment, because of lack of related medication, basic medical supplies and infrastructure in the insured person’s Member State of residence where hospital care concerned cannot be provided in appropriate time; – application of directive 2002/98 and 2001/83 concerning plasma prepared from whole blood, by means of an industrial process and intended for transfusion purposes
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The European Court of Human Rights was established in 1959 for the purpose of examining individualcomplaints and international cases. The ECtHR ascertains the infringement of rightsand freedoms on the basis of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The Convention provides uniform principles and standards in the field of humanrights while ECtHR judgments may provide arguments to introduce amendments in legislatureand in practice. The paper presents selected verdicts issued by the ECtHR against different European countries in 2014 in the cases involving medical issues
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Belarusian border town has become main transit point for those on their way to Europe, who say they fear increased oppression back home.
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The controversial “Yarovaya’s Bill” will have far-reaching effects on the Russian population.
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According to the author, there are no legal obstacles for a Deputy to hold shares in certain types of companies which, in their business, benefit from EU funds. If funds for the implementation of the program in which the company intends to participate, come – partly or in whole – from the state budget, they will be classified as state property. There are reasons to consider that the funds available to entrepreneurs under EU programs, paid in 100% from EU funds, do not constitute property of the state nor municipal property.
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Several reports reveal that trafficking in antiquities has become one of the sources of funding of the “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria”. Switzerland, which is one of the principal markets for articles of archaeological interest, has adopted two pieces of legislation that may play an important role in countering the illicit trade of antiquities smuggled from Iraq and Syria. These are the Federal Law on the Protection of Cultural Objects in the Event of Armed Conflict, Catastrophe and Emergency Situations and the Order Establishing Measures against Syria. The objective of this article is twofold: first, to examine the most relevant aspects of these measures and their implications for art trade professionals and collectors; and second, to demonstrate that Switzerland is now keen to support foreign States’ efforts to protect their cultural patrimony when threatened by war, terrorism, pillage and natural or human-induced disasters.
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When art and criminal law cross paths life has some fascinating stories to tell which may well extend beyond national borders. Such stories are closely linked with a multitude of diverse legal issues which can frequently be reduced to two aspects, both of which require clarification: First, what is art? And, second, is everything permitted in art? This paper explores both questions by considering several case studies by way of illustration. Possible solutions are presented and carefully examined. The paper also provides an interesting glimpse of the “Art and Criminal Law” exhibition developed by the team of the Chair of Criminal Law, Law of Criminal Procedure and Criminology under Professor Uwe Scheffler at the European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder). The exhibition is currently on tour in Germany and Poland where it is being shown at a number of universities.
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The aim of this article is to analyze the motif of scales in Netherlandish art from the 15th to the 17th century. The motif of scales was present in art from earliest times, but its role and function differed in various historical epochs – antique, the middle ages, and the modern age. The core part of the article is devoted to the symbolic relationship between scales and different aspects of justice. The first painting taken into consideration is Rogier van der Weyden’s Last Judgment (approx. 1445 to 1450), and the last one – Jan Vermeer’s Woman Holding a Balance (approx. 1662-1663). The article attempts to answer some crucial questions. What were the meanings attributed to scales during the two centuries examined? How did these meanings evolve, and was the interpretation of the symbol influenced by the ethos characteristic for particular periods and geographical spaces, as well as transient fashions, religious and political changes? The article presents paintings selected during the query into Netherlandish art, along with a discussion on their content and information about their creators. It analyzes the symbol of scales in the context of images created by the masters of Netherlandish painting and offers a synthesis of the observed changes in the perception of scales as a symbol during the period discussed.
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This article examines the main issues in regard to the right to a fair trial in criminal matters. Particularly it provides an overview of the Court case-law involving Bulgaria. This concerns the right to an independent and impartial tribunal established by law; the court's jurisdiction and access to court in criminal matters; right to a public hearing and a public pronouncement of judgement; the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time, the presumption of innocence and the basic rights of the defense of anyone who has been charged.
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This article analyzes the concepts, systems and design criteria of the Special Part of the criminal law of foreign countries. According to the author, especially of the foreign criminal law, as its structural element is a set of (system) institutions and norms that define the concept and features of specific crimes and establish penalties for committing them. Features of the part of the foreign criminal law is derived from two of the subfamily-tems: 1) codified (main), provided by the Criminal Code; 2) Necoda-tified (auxiliary) provided a multiplicity of other formal sources (special criminal laws or regulations other industry sector, and in some cases and case law). Criteria for the construction of the Special Part of the foreign criminal law are determined on the basis of community facilities criminal attacks and their importance in the hierarchy of social values, officially adopted in a given society and the state. In terms of content, especially of the criminal law of various foreign countries, on the one hand, has the versatility and unity in the main - in the terms of common crimes, which form its “core”. On the other hand, it differs quite pronounced invariance, ie, specificity in the amount of criminalization, the degree of differentiation of criminal responsibility and the level of penalty for their actions. The algorithm of the Special Part of the foreign criminal law at the present stage is modeled as follows: in the framework of its codification in general prevails under decodification, criminalization - under decriminalization, penalization - under decriminalization. Currently, gradually changing the concept (ideology) of the Special Part of the Criminal Law, the border - line, which is manifested primarily in changing the vector of values of criminal law protection: (from the state - for the individual). In addition, the continued process of convergence of different criminal legal systems (primarily European and Anglo-American).
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The aim of this paper is to explore the issues arising out of so called “compulsory transfer of the registered office of the company”. The judgment of Polish Supreme Court dated 12 March, 2015 (I CSK 452/14) relates to the contemporary legal status of Polish company incorporated before the Second World War in Lemberg but still leaves many questions unanswered. The Author seeks to find the solution to the problem of the effects of a succession of States after the incorporation of the company with the use of different instruments of private international law. Observations based on the jurisprudence of American, German and French courts highlight the right to transfer the company, which has its registered office after the succession on the territory of the succesor state, to the state which law previously governed the creation of the company.
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The article focuses on problems with the determination of foreign law. According to Polish regulations, the court is obliged to ascertain the content of the applicable law of its own motion. However, obstacles might be encountered in the process, which effectively hinder the procedure. The author discusses the question whether the provision of Art. 10 S. 2 of the 2011 Act on Private International Law is a functional solution, especially as regards the statutory criterium of “reasonable time”. Namely, the court’s efforts to determine the content of the law applicable should be undertaken within a time limit deemed as “reasonable”, given the facts of the case and the need to resolve it in an effective way. The court is obliged to undertake all available measures to ascertain the content of applicable law, having in mind that it cannot lead to a situation where the parties’ interests would be frustrated by the process taking too long. Should the court find that the determination of foreign law is not possible within reasonable time, according to Art. 10 s. 2 of the Act cited above it is obliged to apply Polish law as a last resort. In the article it is analyzed whether the present statutory regulation fulfills its role, as expected in the law-making process. The author concludes that this provision is a flexible solution, allowing the court to assess the situation in a given case and reach a decision taking into account all the important issues. There is no need modify the law, especially by introducing a more detailed provision.
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Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (the Rome II Regulation) defines the conflict-of-law rules applicable to non-contractual obligations in civil and commercial matters. It has been in force since 11 January 2009. Article 30 of the Regulation foresees an evaluation report on its application. The European Commission already asked the Polish Ministry of Justice for an input via a Questionnaire issued in 2012 (see M. Pazdan, M. Jagielska, W. Kurowski, M. Świerczyński, M.-A. Zachariasiewicz, M. Zachariasiewicz, Ł. Żarnowiec: “Materials: The Response to Commission’s Questionnaire to the Member States Regarding the Application of the Regulation 864/2007 on the Law”. „Problemy Prawa Prywatnego Międzynarodowego” 2013, vol. 12, p. 165—197). At that stage — it was not yet possible to present a developed picture of our courts’ approach to the Regulation as no extensive case-law was available in Poland. With the new Questionnaire dated June 2015 the Commission-Directorate A: Civil Justice asked the Polish Ministry of Justice for new information and insights on the application of the Rome II Regulation in Poland that have been gathered in the meantime. Similarly to the original response to the Commission’s Questionnaire, this supplement was prepared jointly, by a group of authors under a lead of professor Maksymilian Pazdan. The supplement constituted the basis for the reply given to the Commission by the Polish Codification Committee on behalf of the Polish government. Since the preparation of the original response time has passed and experience has accrued. Accordingly, a number of issues concerning the application of the Regulation have surfaced. The new opinion brings additional information on Polish case law to the attention of the Commission. The authors are of the of the view that the reason why the Regulation has been finally noticed by Polish courts may be the reference to this act included in Art. 33 of Polish Private International Law. Jurisprudential analysis presented in this supplement indicates that Polish courts face many difficulties when applying the Rome II Regulation. These concern, among others, the scope of the Regulation itself, as well are of its particular provisions, the demarcation of the Regulation and the Hague Convention of 1971, the interpretation of the criterion of a„manifestly closer connection” and the criterion of a „close connection of a tort with an earlier contract”, the determination of the place of damage and admissibility of the application of Arts. 16 and 17 of the Rome II Regulation. Unfortunately there are cases when the Regulation was ignored by Polish courts. The authors of the supplement propose a number of possible amendments to the Regulation, including changes to conflict rules for traffic accidents, the protection of privacy and other personal rights, intellectual property, unfair competition and the protection of third party rights.
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According to the main theses arising out of the statement of reasons of the Supreme Court Judgement of 28th May, 2014, I CSK 330/13: 1. The separation of property as provided in art. 54 § 1 of Polish Family and Guardianship Code (PFGC) may result from a foreign court order, if this order corresponds to the judgment on legal separation as known in the Polish law. 2. The ordinance of the French court authorizing the spouses to live separately, issued as part of divorce proceedings cannot be qualified as the equivalent of the judgment on legal separation known to the Polish law. Both theses should be approved. However, the first one must be supplemented with the fact that the effect provided in art. 54 § 1 PFGC may only be attributed to a foreign judgement, when the law applicable to the patrimonial effects of marriage in the moment of such judgement is the Polish one. Furthermore, the above mentioned effect can occur as a consequence of a foreign judgment only if this judgment is recognised in Poland. In order to check whether the foreign judgment concerned in casu corresponds to the Polish judgment on legal separation, the terms equivalence evaluation must be carried out. In the case concerned, it was necessary to carry out such an evaluation with reference to the French ordinance authorizing the spouses to live separately [“l’ordonnance de résidence séparée”]. In the absence of sufficient similarity between the analysed ordinance and the Polish judgment on legal separation, the provision of art. 54 § 1 PFGC cannot apply with regard to the former. Therefore, in spite of some objections to the reasoning of the Supreme Court, we should agree with the final settlement made in the case.
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The text gives a short analysis of grounding the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina on UN Charter in combination with the Washington Agreement. The paper subsequently lists the UN Charter‟s peace provisions and Higher Representative‟s legal position in regard the peace preservation in B&H. The peace observing as a sine qua non of both BH and regional stability must be enhanced by amending the Constitutions of BiH, FbiH and RS. This goal can be achieved by achieved by harmonizing the a) BH Constitution (Annex IV respectively) with the general and particular international standards of UN, Council of Europe, European Union in accordance with the Bosnia and Herzegovina‟s continuity in international relations; b) the Constitutions of FBiH and RS with the BiH Constitution by abolishing the majority of first generation provisions on human rights and fundamental freedoms, and certain provisions regarding the administrative and legal order of BiH and two entities, and c) changes to the BH Constitution, the Constitutions of FBiH and RS through decisions rendered by constituent and legislative authority. The opening of a discussion relating to the reform of BH legal order in international EU organizations with whom BiH has entered into international legal relations is presented instead of conclusion in the end of the paper.
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