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In the glossed judgement the Supreme Administrative Court considered whether a person who was not a taxpayer had legal right to make a claim for overpaid tax. The crucial problem, which was underlined in the opinion of the court, was the meaning of the term taxpayer. Although this term has its legal definition in the Tax Ordinance, it is an example of an empty term which needs to be precised by the specific provisions of tax legislation. The issue of relation between general and specific provisions of tax legislation is important to both the practice and the study of tax law. To analyse the judgement, a dogmatic method was used. The gloss is approving SAC judgement − the court refused to grant legal right to make a claim for overpaid tax to a person who was not a taxpayer and correctly clarified terms party and taxpayer. Definition of the latter term has the form of a cascade − it is void unless co-defined by the specific provisions, and therefore it does not execute its function to confine the area of indistinctness.
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The coronavirus not only is challenging national health care systems but also creates a favourable environment for numerous information attacks. The global infodemic is another challenge to address. In the article, the author shows who benefits from spreading fakes and what goals these actors have (the most obvious actor is the Russian Federation). The article considers some fundamental principles in which an “info vaccination” may be grounded, considering national patterns of information perception. Among these principles, the following should be named: case studies of typical disinformation, mobilisation of opinion-makers for the sake of public interest, cooperation with the institutions of civil society, and, the most importantly, stressing that the public interest is the multiplied personal interest.
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In March 2018, the EEAS and the European Commission officially relaunched multilateral architecture of the Eastern Partnership, following the results of the 5th Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels. Having endorsed “20 Deliverables for 2020” as a key roadmap for development of the region, the EU took a first major step in making the new EaP multilateral setup operational. Although some positive moments might be observed with the renewed Eastern Partnership, the multilateral track still does not address expectations of some partner states or stakeholders. This memo presents some core recommendations based on experience of taking part in different EaP multilateral fora and deep involvement in the activity of the Ukrainian National Platform of the EaP Civil Society Forum. It is addressed to both European institutions and Ukrainian authorities engaged in the Eastern Partnership implementation.
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Governments design and implement sophisticated nation branding and public diplomacy programs with a goal of bringing more tourists, beckoning more foreign direct investment, and promoting export. However, reputation of a nation can hurt investment, tourism, and export. In this article, we will answer the following questions: Why is soft power important? How to increase FDI? How can corporate brands influence country image? What are the challenges Ukraine is facing? What practical steps are made by Ukraine’s civil society to project a positive image of Ukraine?
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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.
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When newly arising challenges constantly threaten to divert European capitals’ attention from the EU Eastern Partnership (EaP)1, the position of three Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – remains unshaken. Such solidarity and assistance to democratic reforms can be compared to one of Nordic states, which invested a great deal into the post-Soviet transformation of the Baltics. However, the Baltic states’ engagement into the EaP region, which often includes criticizing Russia, is more complex than a policy of ‘giving back’. The article takes a closer look into the role the Baltic States play in the EaP region, with particular attention to Ukraine. In addition to estimating the Baltic support, the main aim is to assess the impact that active involvement and transfer of the best reform-related practices to the EaP countries has on the Baltic States. It will also evaluate the hypothesis that the Baltic States’ actions in the EaP region strengthen them as a region.
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Civic education serves as an instrument for building a democratic culture and is especially necessary in a young democracy such as the Republic of Croatia. At the national level, there have been unsuccessful efforts to establish civic education since the nineties of the last century. Key obstacles responsible for it are the absence of serious political will to integrate this programme into the curriculum, as well as the instability in the educational system, that is, the initiation of numerous reforms without a clear vision and serious strategic considerations. Results of many research conducted at the national level reveal that both youth and adults lack a developed civic competence and basic knowledge about democracy, human rights and political processes. The City of Rijeka is the first town in the Republic of Croatia that has taken the initiative and introduced civic education as an extracurricular activity in 6 primary schools that it founded. For the purpose of monitoring the experimental implementation of the civic education and the improvement of its quality based on scientific evidence, an evaluation of the programme was conducted, the results of which will be presented in this paper. A comprehensive quantitative and qualitative research was conducted that included the participation of students (N=161), their parents (N=86) and teachers who implement civic education (N=6). The results point to positive shifts in the thinking and practical knowledge of students who attended civic education programme as opposed to those who did not. Based on the results of this research civic education programme was introduced in another 22 primary schools in Rijeka. Encouraged by this example, many local self-government units throughout Croatia have adopted the so-called ‘Rijeka model’ and thus contribute to the deconstruction of the power of national education policy and to strengthening the local ones.
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Kazakh Turks of East Turkistan who fled Chinese persecution and settled in Turkey after 1950 through India and their activities for the "East Turkistan case" within the academic method. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Kazakhstan was established in the western part of Turkistan in 1991. A year after the establishment of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the first diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China began, and these relations continue to this day. However, due to kazakhstan's relations with China since its independence in 1991, the Kazakh Turks in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the diaspora approach the "East Turkistan Case" with sensitivity. At the same time, with the independence of Kazakhstan, Kazakh Turks from East Turkistan in Turkey expressed their homeland as Kazakhstan and some Families from East Turkistan emigrated to Kazakhstan. Kazakh Turks from East Turkistan who remain in Turkey serve as bridges in the relations between Turkey and Kazakhstan with the associations they have established. It is the Kazakh Turks Education and Research Association that carries out its activities in the most active way in this mission.
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The impact of the recent digital and innovative technological evolutions has, by all means, been major on every aspect of our lives, affecting and transforming our societies. We are living an era of fast technological developments. Thus, we dare stating that the natural selection is not an option anymore, but rather the forced evolution and only those looking for new creative, innovative solutions will be able to survive, evolve and thrive in the future. We recently entered the 4th industrial revolution and we are about to take the next step to the 5th one. But we have to question ourselves: are we truly ready to keep up with this alert pace of evolution? Are we prepared and aware of the opportunities and most important of the challenges brought by the new technological revolutions? Therefore, our paper aims to analyse / evaluate in a more or less comprehensive approach, the current state of play of the digital and innovative solutions (e.g.: artificial intelligence) and their future impact on public administration's and business environment activities, educational systems and on the society, as a whole. Through our paper we also want to underline that we do not have any guarantees on how the scenarios will unfold, but nevertheless, we do have the prerequisites to foresee those scenarios and prepare ourselves to respond in a common, integrated manner, informing and involving all stakeholders - the public and private sector, academia and civil society. Only taking this path we can make the most out of it and generate added value, in terms of: more efficient and up-to-date public services, increased quality of products and services provided by companies, a functional and sustainable labour market, implicit overall competitiveness and not at last, a better quality of life for citizens.
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The article studies the reasons for and the different forms of civil society actors’ participation in the healthcare system. That was a dense practice in the period between the years of 1878 and 1944. The re-installment of the civil society after 1989 saw rebuilding of some of those previously existing forms of interaction and the introduction of some new. But there is still one significant absence – the possibility for civil society organizations to deliver directly healthcare services.
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review of: Vera Kržišnik Bukić, Cazinska buna 1950. (Sarajevo, 2013).
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Kazuo Ishiguro acknowledges the fallibility of the human condition, and herein lies the therapeutic coreof his novels. The current study proposes a theoretical approach to Ishiguro’s second novel (1989) from an interdisciplinary perspective on the main character’s narrative. In the first part, Henry James' interpretation of literature applies to Masuji Ono’s totalitarian views to link fiction to real life. The second part discusses the relativity of choices and decisions based on transgenerational ethics as presented in Strauss and Howe’s Fourth Turning Theory. The third part focuses on Ono’s narrative unreliability as a form of confabulation. Since Ono’sre collections often clash with what his family can remember about certain events, the painter may be suffering from the false memory effect as a form of healing old trauma. The last subchapter explains the concept of ‘mono no aware’ from a scientific perspective. The Japanese understanding of the ‘pathos of things’ is reflected in the second law of thermodynamics, which stipulates that universal disorder will always increase. While young Ono refuses to accept the floating world, old Ono seeks to make peace with the transitory nature of existence, which is equivalent to accepting the entropy of the Universe.
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According to a number of relevant demographic and statistical indicators, Croatia is in a deep demographic crisis in all aspects of demographic dynamics and structural-demographic development. Total depopulation, natural decline, negative migration balance, demographic aging, and spatial polarization of the population – are fundamental long-term and current demographic trends and processes that, thanks to available data from census, vital and migration statistics can be monitored almost continuously from the middle of last century until today. The current demographic picture of Croatia is marked by natural and mechanical population losses, which means more deaths from birth and more emigration than immigration, with significantly disturbed relations between large (functional) age groups that threaten further collapse of bio reproductive potential and economic activity of the population. Croatian demographers warned of this circumstance during socialist Yugoslavia, especially after reaching independence in 1991. In their research, they were especially committed to the design and implementation of active and stimulating population policies, which had a certain impact in the formation of some decisions and documents of Croatian state policy during the 1990s. In this sense, it is scientifically relevant to valorize Dr. Tuđman’s attitude towards Croatian demographic issues, because demographic challenges have been and still are in significant discrepancy with socially desirable demographic processes and trends as key factors in the development and progress of the Croatian state and society, especially from 1991 and onwards. Therefore, in the context of Tuđman’s work as a politician (president of the Croatian Democratic Union from 1989 to 1999) and statesman (president of the Republic of Croatia from 1990 to 1999), but also as a scientist and public figure (director of the Institute for the History of the Labor Movement from 1961 to 1967) it is useful to investigate whether and to what extent there is a consistent attitude towards the demographic situation and problems of Croatia and, accordingly, whether we find the issue of Croatian demography at the center or on the margins of interest in his public work.
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One key factor in achieving the modernization both of a country and of a supra-national organization is to have functional mechanisms that facilitate the participation of citizens. This paper aims to explore the efficacy of the European Citizens’ Initiative and its development during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study begins with the theoretical framework covering both several theories on the topic of civic engagement and the legislation ensuring the functioning of the European Citizens’ Initiative. It continues with an analysis of the initiatives that were submitted to conclude if the mechanism is successful. The case study focuses on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on both the functioning of this mechanism and on the characteristics of the proposed initiatives. The article does not study the impact of the approved initiatives or the relevance of their subject. It only analyses the success rate of this mechanism in terms of approval and the effects of the pandemic on the procedure and on the specificity of the initiatives.
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Review of: "Geselligkeit in Nordosteuropa.",Studien zu Vereinskultur, Zivilgesellschaft und Nationalisierungsprozessen in einer polykulturellen Region (1770–1950), Jörg Hackmann, (Veröffentlichungen des Nordost-Instituts, Bd. 19.) Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden 2020. 520S., Ill., Kt., graph. Darst. ISBN 978-3-447-11490-5.
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This paper discusses a research project that attempted to examine selected public institutions' response strategies to a pandemic. The most important research question of the project was the relationship between the pandemic and innovativeness of the sector of public institutions (understood as the desire to introduce new ways of operating, new inter-institutional links, new patterns of relations with stakeholders, etc., resulting from the knowledge provided to individual institutions by functioning under the conditions of the pandemic). During qualitative research we found that the researched institutions' predominant reaction to the challenges of the pandemic was not an orientation towards innovation but a striving to maintain a mode of functioning that is as similar as possible to that from before the pandemic. The innovations made (transition to remote working, simplification of some administrative procedures) resulted from external pressure to a greater extent and internal reflexivity to a lesser extent. The narratives captured in the study about the everyday life of public institutions during the pandemic have three common elements. First, they all focus less on large and spectacular innovations and more on micro-innovations (not treated as innovation, but understood as dozens of micro-improvements, minimal adjustments to existing routines). Second, they all miniaturize the experience of the pandemic, regarding it as events so extreme as to be useless for designing a better institutional order. Thirdly, all the reconstructed narratives are situated in an institutional zone of in-between, which means that they perceive themselves as a transparent medium fluctuating between the state and society and as a subject without influence on the shape of its own functioning. On the one hand, this would depend on the level of civic culture and, on the other hand, on the policy created at the highest levels of the state.
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When the Red Army entered Lviv in July 1944, the Soviet special service (NKGB) proceeded to immediately deal with the Polish population, including civilians. At that time, Poles were the most numerous national group in the city. Despite the progressive changes, they treated Lviv as a Polish centre and did not intend to leave it. The article presents the attitude of the NKGB towards Polish civilian population in Lviv during the two-year transition period (1944–1946) and the actions to intimidate them and force them to leave the city. The text was based to a large extent on materials of the Soviet provenance, not known to Polish science so far.
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Comment analyses the amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), which come into force on 1 January 2021 and which restrict the right of creditors to choose the bailiff, thus addressing the problem of dominant creditors and dominant bailiffs. The author examines the possible consequences of the restrictions on the right of creditors to choose a bailiff for the creditor, the debtor and the bailiff. It looks at responsible lending provisions and the safeguards they put in place to minimise the risk of individuals borrowing too much, thereby creating systemic risk in the market, while leaving adequate borrowing opportunities for low-income earners. It reviews the influence of stakeholders in the legislative process and assesses the arguments chosen by the parties to support their positions. To ensure that the interests of creditors are fully represented, the Lithuanian Association of Credit Management Companies, representing the 10 largest credit management companies in the country, the INFOBALT member group FINTECH Lithuania, which brings together the main players of the Lithuanian FINTECH community, the Association of Banks of Lithuania, the Private Limited Liability Company Vilnius Waters and the Association of Insurers of Lithuania are involved. Do these organisations represent all types of creditors and their interests, or are the problems mentioned by these organisations the most relevant for the creditors they represent and therefore the list of potential problems and challenges is not exhaustive? Is the opposition of these organisations a sufficient reason not to amend the law, or are they just arguments of one, status quo stakeholder? The constitutional principles of protection of legitimate expectations, legal certainty and legal security imply the obligation of the state to ensure the certainty and stability of legal regulation, to protect the rights of individuals, and to respect legitimate interests and legitimate expectations. Is the protection of legitimate expectations limited to the rights of the creditor? Does the division of the creditor's debt portfolio among the bailiffs appointed by the automated system not shift the cost savings of the debtor in the event of forced recovery of the debt to the creditor? Can this principle be reconciled in all cases where the legitimate expectations of the parties differ? Is a value as important as the principle of stability in employment relationships only valued in the short term? Are negative systemic changes in the short term possible in order to establish the principle of stable employment relations in the future? Is the legislator's choice of the date of entry into force of the new version in the event of force majeure of particular importance? The article assesses the impact of the changes in the law on the implementation of the principles of legitimate expectations and the stability of employment relations, and discusses the choice of the law's entry into force period. The situation is examined through the positive and negative social, economic and legal implications for different stakeholders. It also assesses the issues raised by the implementation of the changes to the law in relation to the protection of personal data, the possibilities of an automated system for the management of debtors' personal data, and liability in the event of breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679. It examines the performance indicators of bailiffs, the creditor's right to appeal against a bailiff's actions and the legal possibilities to replace an inefficient bailiff. The article seeks to test the assumption that the interests of creditors will be disproportionately harmed by the aggravation of enforced debt recovery and the administrative problems caused to those administering large debt portfolios, without providing debtors with guarantees that they will be recovered more quickly and economically.
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The article examines the existence, emergence and adaptation of Eastern spiritual ideas in Soviet Latvia in the 1960s-1980s. The adepts of several Eastern spiritual movements, such as the Yoga movement, continued their practices underground, thus maintaining the bond with the tradition of the 1920s-1930s. In the 1970s–1980s, some new movements, such as the Sathya Sai Baba Society, emerged in the cultural space of Soviet Latvia. In response to the growing interest in Eastern spiritual teachings, the Soviet regime imposed strict limitations regulating to what extent such interest was permissible and did not harm Soviet ideology and life. For example, Hatha yoga was allowed only as a part of physical culture. At the same time, there was an active spiritual quest in the private space of Soviet citizens, manoeuvring within the permitted limits or figuring out ways to ‘legally’ circumvent them.
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