Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

Rakennus on varsin erikoinen oikeusobjekti. Rakennus, esimerkiksi niin sanottu omakotitalo, voi kuulua kiinteistöön tai olla irtainta – tai se voi olla molempia yhtä aikaa. Jos rakennus on alun perin rakennettu kiinteistönomistajan intressissä ja omistukseen, siitä on tullut kiinteistön ainesosa, johon sovelletaan kiinteää omaisuutta koskevia sääntöjä. Jos sen sijaan joku muu kuin kiinteistönomistaja on alun perin rakentanut tai rakennuttanut rakennuksen omaan lukuunsa – joko kokonaan tai osittain –, ei rakennus tuolta osin kuulu kiinteistöön, vaan on omistajansa irtainta omaisuutta. Kun siis puhutaan rakennuksen salaisesta omistuksesta, viitataan tyypillisesti tähän jälkimmäiseen tilanteeseen, jossa muu kuin kiinteistönomistaja omistaa tai väittää omistavansa kiinteistölle rakennetun rakennuksen tai osan siitä. Kirjoitus on esittely Karoliina Helteen väitöskirjasta "Rakennuksen salainen omistus. Erityisesti puolison kiinteistölle rakennetun rakennuksen omistussuhteista".

(s. 1053-1066. Niemi, Matti Ilmari. Vastaväittäjän lausunto Karoliina Helteen väitöskirjasta "Rakennuksen salainen omistus. Erityisesti puolison kiinteistölle rakennetun rakennuksen omistussuhteista.")

This article discusses the relations between land registration systems and underlying discourses of property from a comparative perspective. It is based on the example of French law which, characteristically, uses a declaratory land recordation system, i.e., registration is informative in nature, it affects the rules of evidence but it does not convey property nor does it affect complete strangers in any way. It is found that such a system implies that people will need to prove their ownership of land, and therefore presupposes rules of evidence which are based on possession or title to possess, since land registration is not used for that purpose. The historical reason for this choice was inherited from the French Revolution. It rests on the idea that property is held from no one, least of all from the State. Most countries in the world have opted for a land registration system which is constitutive of title, meaning that the State guarantees the registered owner’s title to land. This system was originally inherited from the remnants of the feudal system in which land was held through a tenure, i.e., from someone else. This conception of ownership also traditionally implies a greater tolerance – in legal discourse – for legislative or State interference in the ownership of land which is merely granted by public authority. It may therefore be said that the more efficient the title, the less absolute ownership seems to be, at least in the collective imagination of lawyers as to what property entails.

The Habitats Directive will remain central to the EU’s continuing efforts to halt and ultimately reverse biodiversity loss under its 2030 Strategy for Biodiversity. Understanding the role this Directive plays in protecting European species is, therefore, critical if the EU is to deliver on its ambitious nature conservation agenda. This article presents a new study that furthers our understanding of EU law’s ability to deliver meaningful changes to a species’ conservation status by comparing the status of European plants that are protected under the Habitats Directive with those that are not, using the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN)  Red List. Its findings suggest that the Directive has had only a limited impact on European flora. The article concludes by proposing reforms that could address the shortcomings in the EU’s approach to conservation which are highlighted by the study.

„Goldene Pass“-Programme gewinnen weltweit zunehmend an Popularität. Dieser Trend hat inzwischen auch die Europäische Union erreicht und droht nun in einigen EU-Staaten zu einer teilweisen Kommerzialisierung der Staatsangehörigkeit und damit auch der Unionsbürgerschaft zu führen. Der Beitrag untersucht die Fortentwicklung nationalen Staatsangehörigkeitsrechts durch „Goldene Pässe“ und widmet sich der Frage der Vereinbarkeit entsprechender Programme mit dem Europarecht. Dabei wird deutlich, wie schwer die mitgliedstaatliche Souveränität in Staatsangehörigkeitsfragen mit dem europarechtlichen Grundsatz der loyalen Zusammenarbeit in Einklang zu bringen ist.

Under Council Directive 85/374/EEC, liability of a producer crucially depends upon the proof of a product’s defectiveness. This central notion of the Directive has however long been the source of debate regarding the extent to which it is grounded in a solely safetybased approach, or whether a risk-benefit approach may be admitted. The defectiveness concept is now subject to a growing body of case law. This article examines how the courts in a selection of Member States (MS) approach the notion of defect and take account of riskbenefit considerations in determining whether a product is defective. It aims, first, at lowering the level of complexity which was added to the definition of defect in theDirective by the discretion given to national courts on the applicable standard of liability. Second, it means to show the real level and scope of harmonization of the product liability law in the EU by revealing differences that still exist in the interpretation of seemingly harmonized laws. Third, it aims to contribute to the clarification of whether the risk-benefit test is compliant with the spirit of the Directive, and thereby informing policy makers at a time where the guidelines of interpretation of the Directive are being prepared.

Bisher hat der EuGH das Recht der Welthandelsorganisation (WTO-Recht) nur in wenigen bestimmten Ausnahmen unmittelbar angewandt. Das scheint er nun mit seinem Urteil zur Central European University (CEU) geändert zu haben. Der Urteilsspruch ist allerdings umstritten. Die neue EU-interne Anwendung von WTO-Recht gegenüber EU-Mitgliedstaaten soll wohl nur vordergründig verhindern, dass die EU für deren Fehlverhalten international haften könnte. Tatsächlich aber drohen hieraus Auswirkungen für die Verhandlungsposition der EU im Streitbeilegungsmechanismus der WTO (World Trade Organization), Verfahrenskonkurrenzen zu deren Spruchkörpern und Souveränitätsverluste für die Autonomie der Unionsrechtsordnung. Dagegen sollen sich Unternehmen, Private und Mitgliedstaaten vor Gerichten in der EU weiterhin nur ausnahmsweise auf WTO-Recht berufen können.

This article examines the impact of EU law in international commercial arbitration. EU law has become increasingly relevant in the world of commercial arbitration and while this may not at first seem to be a problem, this article argues that EU law has a distinctive nature which makes it fundamentally incompatible with the arbitral legal order. In effect, the EU legal order has developed on the basis of a direct trilateral relationship between disputes involving EU law, national courts and the European Court. When we are concerned with ordinary judicial proceedings, this relationship is classically supported by the ‘principle of effectiveness’ identified in the case-law of the European Court, which requires national procedures to enable individuals to bring claims based on EU law. Crucially, however, the procedural demands that could be made by the EU legal order are limited by the twin ‘principle of national procedural autonomy’, meaning the Court refrains from directly prescribing modalities for access to national courts and leaves discretion for States to set procedures. Contrasting with this analytical framework, it is here argued that once claims based on EU law fall within the sphere of arbitration, the principle of national procedural autonomy is inoperative and the EU legal order can dictate the terms of review. It is submitted that the effectiveness of EU law is assured not by the standard principle of effectiveness but by the principle of effective judicial protection, thus securing the procedural primacy of EU law in the arbitral legal order.

Article 3(5) of the Treaty on the European Union concerns EU external relations and was a new provision of the Lisbon Treaty. It has been seized upon by scholars for its reference to ‘strict observance of international law’ by the EU in its relations with the wider world. However, recent case law in the Court of Justice of the European Union has demonstrated little movement towards this supposed ideal. This article supports the fact that rigid and unquestioning adherence to international law has not emerged in case law, particularly as Article 3(5) TEU also mandates that the Union ‘uphold and promote its values and interests’. By taking a broader view of both the text and context of Article 3(5) TEU in EU law as a whole, and through consideration of the limited demands international law places on domestic courts, the article argues that – contrary to current literature – a more expressly balanced approach towards respect for international law is required and should be nurtured in the case law.

Commercialization of consumers’ personal data in the digital economy poses serious, both conceptual and practical, challenges to the traditional approach of European Union (EU) Consumer Law. This article argues that mass-spread, automated, algorithmic decision-making casts doubt on the foundational paradigm of EU consumer law: consent and autonomy. Moreover, it poses threats of discrimination and undermining of consumer privacy. It is argued that the recent legislative reaction by the EU Commission, in the form of the ‘New Deal for Consumers’, was a step in the right direction, but fell short due to its continued reliance on consent, autonomy and failure to adequately protect consumers from indirect discrimination. It is posited that a focus on creating a contracting landscape where the consumer may be properly informed in material respects is required, which in turn necessitates blending the approaches of competition, consumer protection and data protection laws.

EU law places a number of requirements on administrative authorities that puts them in potentially invidious positions; while EU law today does not require institutionally independent administrative authorities or provide protection for the independence of authorities beyond the field of data protection, it does require administrative authorities to act independently through the loyal and effective enforcement of EU law. This requirement of acting independently without institutional independence raises certain implications for the role of administrative authorities acting within the hierarchical administrative orders of Member States. Using the case of Sweden – a Member State where administrative authorities enjoy significant constitutionally protected independence in the application of law and decision of cases – this article argues that the effect of EU law obligations of effectiveness and loyalty is a weakening of the hierarchical influence of the government over its own authorities, with a resulting shift of influence towards the legal arena through the provision of politically expedient interpretations of EU law. The invidious position of administrative authorities within the scope of EU law is likely to make them vulnerable to such influence, which may ultimately interfere with the effective administration of EU law.

With the tenth anniversary of the seminal Ruiz Zambrano judgment looming, there is scantly a better time to reassess its legacy and reflect on how its doctrine can be brought forward to foster the protection of fundamental rights in the European Union (EU). This article looks back at the reasons that make this decision a landmark in EU law, and discusses the potential for an expansive reading of the Ruiz Zambrano doctrine. It analyses to what extent the doctrine’s scope can be extended to subjects other than minors within the specific context of derived residence rights for third country nationals. On the whole, this article argues in favour of the expansive application of this doctrine by looking at a case study: that of persons with disabilities. In testing the potential application of the Ruiz Zambrano doctrine to protect the genuine enjoyment of rights that the status of EU citizens confers upon persons with disabilities, the article problematizes the idea of ‘dependency’. While this concept might be perceived as problematic from a disability perspective, the article reconciles this apparent tension by applying the concept of ‘empowering dependency’. The article concludes by highlighting the constitutional spill-over that a broader application of the Ruiz Zambrano doctrine may bring.

In 2019 the European Union adopted two key Directives on consumer protection with regard to digital contracts: the Directive on the supply of digital content and digital services (2019/770, hereinafter DCD), and the Directive on the online sale of goods (2019/ 771, hereinafter SGD). The European Commission has meant these Directives to be futureproof, which is the reason why the range of digital content under the scope of the DCD is as broad as possible, and the SGD applies to so-called ‘goods with digital elements’. [---] This contribution therefore tries to apply the challenges identified by the Commission in the context of product safety and liability to these Directives with a focus on the DCD. It shows that it presents a number of important challenges, in particular as far as provision on conformity, remedies, or liability are concerned. Ultimately, it raises the question as to whether these Directives are able to deal with AI.

Die Europäische Whistleblowing-Richtlinie ist der bislang mit Abstand weitreichendste und tiefgreifendste Rechtsakt der Europäischen Union auf dem in Deutschland noch jungen Regulierungsfeld des Whistleblowing-Rechts. Nachdem ihre fristgerechte Umsetzung zum 17.12.2021 faktisch mittlerweile nahezu ausgeschlossen ist, stellen sich für die Praxis vielfältig relevante Fragen nach ihren direkten Auswirkungen auf das deutsche Recht, denen in diesem Beitrag nachgegangen wird.

Green public procurement is assumed to have a strong steering effect. The recent EU Green Deal contains proposals to amend green public procurement rules from voluntary to mandatory regulation, which has been endorsed by several legal scholars. At the same time, the effectiveness of green public procurement as an environmental policy tool has been studied in economics, where research results present a reserved approach towards green public procurement’s effectiveness. This article examines green public procurement applying a law and economics methodology, with the goal of combining the approaches from different disciplines and finding ways in which environmental objectives can be effectively addressed through procurement regulation. The main conclusions are that the steering effect, costs and potential environmental impact of green public procurement vary in different industries and therefore a sector-specific approach should be adopted in the development of green public procurement regulation. In order to encourage companies to invest and develop their operations in a greener direction, it is important that a large number of contracting authorities use harmonized green public procurement criteria. Further, the effects of green public procurement regulation on competition and emissions from the private consumer market should be monitored and the potential of public procurement to achieve environmental objectives should be explored and compared with other policy options.

Wenn deutsche Sicherheitsbehörden Daten zu Zwecken der Strafverfolgung aus der Europäischen Union (EU) in die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika (USA) übermitteln, kommt vor allem die Anwendung spezieller Vorschriften aus dem europäischen und nationalen bereichsspezifischen Datenschutzrecht in Betracht. Des Weiteren sind völkerrechtliche Übereinkünfte, bi- und multilaterale Abkommen sowie völkerrechtliche Verträge zu beachten, wie beispielsweise das EU-US-Datenschutz-Rahmenabkommen und Rechtshilfeabkommen, die sowohl von der EU als auch von Deutschland mit den USA geschlossen wurden. Hierbei entstehen für das Datenschutzrecht Wechselwirkungen zwischen diesen verschiedenen Rechtsbereichen. Es soll daher der Rechtsrahmen abgesteckt und der Frage nachgegangen werden, auf welche datenschutzrechtlichen Rechtsgrundlagen deutsche Sicherheitsbehörden bei einem Datenexport in die USA zu Zwecken der Verhütung, Ermittlung, Aufdeckung, Verfolgung oder Ahndung von Straftaten und Ordnungswidrigkeiten zurückgreifen können.

This article examines the Opinion of AG Rantos in two cases concerning Islamic headscarves before the CJEU and argues that this Opinion appears to give almost carte blanche to (private) employers to adopt neutrality policies in their workplaces based on the wishes of their customers. In doing so, the AG appears to allow employers to pander to the prejudices of their customers and to push believers, and especially Muslim women, even further out of sight. It is argued that this affects not only the employment opportunities, but also the social inclusion of people from groups especially vulnerable to discrimination and that this goes against the founding values of the EU. The CJEU now has a choice: it can choose to protect the fundamental rights of religious minorities by taking these rights into account when assessing the two cases before it, or it can allow employers to pander to the prejudice of customers against people from religious minorities.

With its Judgment of 27 November 2019 in Case T-31/18 Luisa Izuzquiza and Arne Semsrott v European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), the Court of Justice of the European Union opened a new chapter in the elaboration of the two seemingly antagonistic interests enshrined in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents: the public's fundamental right to transparency versus the public's interest as regards "public security". Focusing on the evolution of "public security" in the EU since 1993, this case note analyses the CJEU's balancing of these principles, its increased scrutiny of Frontex administrative decisions, and the extent to which Frontex had to justify its denial to grant access to documents through the lens of the management of sensitive operational information. This examination puts the judgment in the context of the ongoing situation in the central Mediterranean and, by providing detailed insights on the underlying operational considerations, shows that the fundamental and wide-reaching right to transparency has to be balanced with the need to protect crew and vessels and the implementation and enforcement of the Frontex mandate. While continuing established case law in its use of the public security exception (a so-called absolute exception that is not subject to an overriding public interest test), in this case the CJEU subsumed, for the first time, individual subjective rights and legal interests under public security. [---]

This article discusses how the application the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights contributes to the fight for the rule of law in the EU. After outlining the connections between the two it focuses on two examples of how the Charter could and should play a more significant role in upholding the rule of law. As to Member State-level rule of law breakdowns, we demonstrate that the Charter has either been missing in the shadow of Article 19(1) of the Treaty on European Union or threatened to undermine the fight for the rule of law when the principle of judicial independence was reduced to Article 47 Charter standing alone. As to supranational level rule of law issues, where the Charter’s applicability under Article 51 CFR is uncontroversial, we show that it has nonetheless so far been applied to a problematically limited extent. This is particularly clear with regard to party-financing at EU-level. This file offers a case in point to show how taking the Charter seriously could make a significant difference in protecting the rule of law in the EU.

Tavoitteeksi on tyypillisesti asetettu abstrakti yhteinen “fiskaalinen kapasiteetti”, jonka tarkoituksena on tasoittaa jäsenvaltioiden välisiä eroja taloussuhdanteissa. Nämä aloitteet ovat kuitenkin järjestään pysähtyneet paitsi poliittisen tuen niukkuuteen erityisesti pohjoisissa jäsenmaissa, myös jaettuun käsitykseen siitä, että tällaisten rakenteiden luominen edellyttäisi perussopimusten muuttamista. Koronatilanne on kuitenkin vaikuttanut kehitykseen. Syksyllä 2020 EU:n neuvosto ja parlamentti hyväksyivät komission ehdotuksen elpymispaketista pienin muutoksin, ja keväällä 2021 kaikki jäsenvaltiot hyväksyivät kansallisia menettelyjään noudattaen paketin rahoituspohjan turvaavan omien varojen päätöksen. Tässä kirjoituksessa pyritään kuvaamaan, millä tavoin tulkinnalliset muutokset EU:ssa tapahtuvat, ja pohtimaan, miten niihin on mahdollisesti kansallisesti reagoida.

Viimeaikaisessa keskustelussa on aika ajoin palattu kysymykseen erillisen perustuslakituomioistuimen tarpeesta. Tyypillinen kielteinen argumentti on se, että nykyisen järjestelmän korvaaminen perustuslakituomioistuimella merkitsisi siirtymistä perustuslakivaliokunnan harjoittamasta ennakollisesta kontrollista jälkikäteiseen lakien perustuslainmukaisuuden valvontaan ajankohtana, jolloin ongelmat ovat jo käsillä. Artikkelissa tarkastellaan erityisesti viimeaikaisen, koronapandemian sävyttämän käytännön – mutta ei pelkästään sen – valossa perustuslain valvontajärjestelmää neljässä eurooppalaisessa demokratiassa.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the most dramatic pandemic of the new millennium, and extraordinary measures concerning with health, law and policy are required around the world. One of these is without doubts the "green pass", officially known in the European Union (EU) as EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC). Initially conceived as a tool for overcoming the lockdown restrictions, it has unexpectedly turned into a means of discrimination between pass holders and non-holders, thus increasing social tension at the expense of solidarity and brotherhood. Here, we analyze in depth the dark sides of the "green pass" in the light of the European and international legislation and of the ongoing pandemic scenario.

On 15 December 2020, the European Commission presented its long-anticipated Digital Services and Digital Market Acts proposals. If and when adopted, those proposals would put in place a more stringent regulatory framework ensuring coordinated oversight over the online platform services and digital markets. They would also enhance EU coordinated and direct enforcement in the digital economy, by streamlining the organization and sanctioning powers of national administrative bodies and granting the European Commission far-reaching market supervision and enforcement powers. This legal development article analyses both Acts and calls on the EU legislator to pay sufficient attention to ensuring the feasibility of new regulatory obligations and to foreseeing better procedural safeguards accompanying Commission direct enforcement practices.

This article analyses the ECJ’s ruling in Case C-66/18 (Central European University), in which the Court found that two amendments to Hungary’s Law on Higher Education violate EU law and the WTO GATS Agreement. The ruling is remarkable in legal and political terms: it touches upon a series of fundamental issues, such as the EU’s efforts to protect European values, democracy and the rule of law in its Member States, infringement proceedings against Member States for their failure to comply with international agreements, the applicability of the Fundamental Rights Charter in EU external relations, the tension between the ECJ and the WTO dispute settlement system, national measures enacted to ward off ‘undesirable’ investments and other cross-cutting questions of EU law.

Die Pandemie hat tiefe Spuren in den Staatsfinanzen hinterlassen. Nachdem der Fiskus zunächst durch liquiditätsschonende Maßnahmen zur Stützung der von der Seuchenbekämpfung betroffenen Unternehmen beigetragen hat, stellt sich jetzt die Frage nach den langfristigen Konsequenzen für das Steuersystem. Die großen Baustellen liegen im Bereich des Internationalen Steuerrechts und der europäischen Finanz- und Steuerordnung. Sie sind nicht neu. Der Finanzbedarf der Pandemie befeuert die Diskussion um die stärkere Heranziehung internationaler Großkonzerne zur Staatsfinanzierung aber.

Veron kiertäminen tutkimuskohteena on ollut pitkään suosittu aihe, joka yhä edelleen kiinnostaa vero-oikeuden tutkijoita. Tutkimusaihe on haasteellinen sekä teoreettisesti että käytännöllisesti. Veron kiertämistä ei oikeastaan pystytä tyhjentävästi edes määrittelemään, vaikkakin siihen puuttumiseksi jonkinlainen tunnusmerkistö on eri valtioiden verolainsäädännöissä oleviin yleislausekkeisiin toki tullut sisällyttää. Tässä veron kiertämistä vero-oikeudellisena tutkimuskohteena koskevassa artikkelissa viitataan veron kiertämisellä ensisijaisestikäsitteen legaalis-tekniseen merkitykseen. Tekstissä tarkastellaan oikeusvertailevasti, minkälaisia kysymyksenasetteluja tutkimukset ovat sisältäneet, millä lähestymistavoilla tai tutkimusmenetelmillä aihetta on tutkittu, ja minkälaisia tutkimussuuntauksia aiheen suhteen on vertailuvaltioissa muodostunut. Vertailuvaltioina Suomen ohella ovat Saksa ja Ruotsi.

Twenty-five years ago Richard Epstein published Simple Rules for a Complex World, which would go on to become one of Epstein’s most influential works. This essay, prepared for a conference and symposium to celebrate the anniversary of the book, applies the insights of Simple Rules in the context of one of the most complex areas of social and economic regulation, financial regulation. The complexity of modern finance is often thought to require an equally complex regulatory structure to preserve the safety of the financial system and thus Epstein’s approach is inapplicable to this context. We argue that this argument is exactly backwards. Simplicity in the regulatory framework is essential for financial institutions to manage risk and conduct their affairs efficiently and prudently. Complexity, by contrast, begets a variety of destabilizing problems, including the likelihood of regulatory arbitrage and errors by regulators that increase risk. We argue that refashioning financial regulation around Epstein’s concept of simple rules would create a more stable and efficient financial regulatory system.

Gegenstand eines Kryptowährungsdarlehens (auch Kryptodarlehen genannt) ist die darlehensweise Überlassung von Kryptowährungen. Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der Rechtsnatur einer solchen Vereinbarung. Es sind bereits erste Verfahren zu Kryptodarlehen bei Gerichten anhängig. Zwar betreffen sie den unternehmerischen Bereich, es ist aber davon auszugehen, dass auch Verbraucher ein solches Darlehen abschließen bzw. bereits abgeschlossen haben.

Immer häufiger sehen sich die Verwaltungsgerichte mit Rechtsbehelfen konfrontiert, die in der Sache nicht die Verletzung subjektiver öffentlicher Rechte, sondern – unter Berufung auf das Gemeinwohl und (vermeintliche) Allgemeininteressen – Verstöße gegen objektives Recht monieren und weit über den konkreten Streitfall hinaus eine „politische Agenda“ verfolgen. Dazu gehören die Klagen von Kirchen und Gewerkschaften gegen verkaufsoffene Sonntage ebenso wie die aufsehenerregenden „Klimaklagen“. Der Beitrag unternimmt den Versuch, Chancen und Risiken solcher Formen der sog. Public Interest bzw. Climate Change Litigation zu skizzieren und deren verfassungsrechtliche Grenzen auszuloten. Dabei geht es weniger um Detailfragen des Öffentlichen Prozessrechts als vielmehr um grundlegende Fragen des gerichtlichen Rechtsschutzes, der Gewaltenteilung und einer Privatisierung des gemeinen Wohls.

Jugendliche Multimillionäre oder Stars der Internetszene mit Followerzahlen, die jene veritabler Pop-Stars oder herausragender Sportgrößen übersteigen – Kinder und Jugendliche eifern heute nicht mehr Fußballspielern oder Gitarrenhelden nach, sondern Influencern. Deren Geschäftsmodell, die Verbindung von Daily Soap mit der Preisgabe von Persönlichem und der Einflechtung von Werbebotschaften, ist jedoch lauterkeitsrechtlichen Schranken unterworfen, die nach divergierenden Entscheidungen mehrerer Oberlandesgerichte der Klärung bedurften. In einer Serie von Entscheidungen vom 9.9.2021 hat der BGH die Grauzone insbesondere hinsichtlich des Einsatzes sogenannter tap tags konturiert.

Julkiset hankinnat toimivat tehokkaasti, kun ne pystyvät houkuttelemaan riittävästi kilpailua, hyödyntämään markkinaolosuhteita ja siten saamaan parhaan mahdollisen hinnan ja laadun julkisen sektorin tarpeisiin. Hankintojen osalta tehokkuudesta puhutaan paljon. Tämä on ymmärrettävää kontekstissa, jossa julkinen sektori käyttää veronmaksajien rahoja julkisten palveluiden toteuttamiseen. Tehokkuutta korostetaan myös hankintalain esitöissä, jossa todetaan, että taloudellisesti järjestetyssä hankinnassa tarjouskilpailu toteutetaan hankintaan ja sen tavoitteisiin nähden mahdollisimman tehokkaasti siten, että hankintamenettelyn tuloksena aikaansaadaan säästöjä julkiselle taloudelle. Artikkelissa julkisten hankintojen järjestelmää tarkastellaan oikeudellisesta ja taloudellisesta näkökulmasta käyttäen Kaldor–Hicks-tehokkuusstandardia, jolla pyritään hyvinvoinnin resurssien taloudelliseen maksimointiin. Kustannustehokkuuden lisäksi tässä artikkelissa kiinnitetään huomiota hallinnollisten kustannusten minimointitavoitteeseen, joka vaikuttaa julkisten varojen tehokkaan käytön vaatimuksen ja siten myös julkisten hankintojen sääntelyn taustalla.

Im Rahmen der Akteneinsicht in die Verfahrensakte vor dem Hintergrund einer beamtenrechtlichen Konkurrentensituation werden umfassend Personaldaten, Angaben aus Lebensläufen, dienstliche Beurteilungen und Zeugnisse der übrigen Bewerber dem unterlegenen und Einsicht nehmenden Mitbewerber zur Kenntnis gebracht. Dabei werden auch ohne weiteres teilweise höchst sensible und vertrauliche Datenkategorien, wie etwa gegebenenfalls die Schwerbehinderteneigenschaft und der GdB offengelegt. Dies verwundert, da es sich bei den Datensätzen oftmals inhaltlich um vertrauliche Personalangelegenheiten, aber in jedem Fall um materielle Personalaktendaten und personenbezogene Daten handelt. Derartige weitreichende Kenntnisse über Bewerberdaten sind mit Blick auf den Beschäftigtendatenschutz der übrigen Bewerber nicht unkritisch. Der vorliegende Beitrag beleuchtet die Voraussetzungen der Akteneinsicht und der Konkurrentenmitteilung und soll eine Bestandsaufnahme der Verwaltungsrechtsprechung mit Blick auf die einschlägigen Datenschutzgesichtspunkte darstellen.

Die Altersgrenze des DFB für Bundesliga-Schiedsrichter beschäftigt die interessierte Öffentlichkeit schon länger, seit kurzem aber auch ein deutsches Gericht. Die Klage von Manuel Gräfe gegen den DFB gibt Anlass, das Verbot der Altersdiskriminierung und mögliche Rechtfertigungen nach §§ 8, 10 AGG einer neuerlichen Untersuchung zu unterziehen. Gezeigt wird, dass die Rechtsprechung bei der Auslegung des § 10 AGG sehr streng ist und sich auf dieser Grundlage wenige Chancen für einen Erfolg des DFB abzeichnen. Insbesondere weckt die Verhältnismäßigkeit erhebliche Zweifel an der Rechtmäßigkeit der starren Altersgrenze.

Der Ausbau der Windenergiegewinnung an Land bleibt seit Jahren hinter den Zielen zurück, deren Erreichung für die Verwirklichung der Energiewende notwendig wäre. Deshalb wurde bereits verschiedentlich die Einführung einer Fachplanung für Windkraftanlagen gefordert. Diese Diskussion möchte der Beitrag aus der Perspektive der Vorhabenzulassung ergänzen und die unterschiedlichen Funktionen des geltenden städtebaurechtlichen Regimes der Außenbereichsprivilegierung (vgl. § 35 Abs. 1 Nr. 5 BauGB) einerseits sowie einer fachplanerischen Zulassung (Planfeststellung) andererseits betonen, zumal die Gegenüberstellung der verschiedenen Zulassungsregime über jene aktuellen Reformüberlegungen hinausweist.

Der Beitrag untersucht Anwendungspotenziale Künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) im Bereich der öffentlichen Verwaltung am Beispiel modernen Personalmanagements. Historische Grundlinien der Technisierung der öffentlichen Verwaltung, die den Weg für eine Einführung von KI bereitet haben sowie aktuelle rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen werden dargestellt. Im Mittelpunkt des Beitrags stehen Untersuchungen zur Nutzung dieses Instruments im Bereich von Einstellungsverfahren, Stellenausschreibungen und im dienstlichen Beurteilungsverfahren. Im Ergebnis plädiert der Beitrag dafür, angesichts der aus der Anwendung von KI resultierenden Chancen für eine Umgestaltung von Arbeits- und Denkprozessen in der öffentlichen Verwaltung die Möglichkeiten einer Weiterentwicklung des gegenwärtig noch überwiegend veränderungsaversen Rechtsrahmens zu prüfen.

Deutsche Hochschulen haben in den letzten Jahren zahlreiche Bemühungen unternommen, beeinträchtigten Studierenden eine gleichberechtigte Teilhabe an akademischer Bildung zu gewährleisten. Eines der Mittel, körperliche und seelische Benachteiligungen von Studierenden im Studienalltag auszugleichen, stellt die Bewilligung von Nachteilsausgleichen im Prüfungsverfahren dar. Bisher stand in Literatur und Rechtsprechung der Ausgleich von Nachteilen in den herkömmlichen Prüfungsverfahren im Mittelpunkt. Die COVID-19-Pandemie und die aktuellen Abstands- und Hygieneregeln erforderten jedoch umfängliche Anpassungen im Lehr- und Prüfungsbetrieb aller Hochschulen. Somit erscheint eine Untersuchung notwendig, ob die bisherigen Grundsätze zum Nachteilsausgleich auch unter den geänderten prüfungsorganisatorischen Rahmenbedingungen fortgelten, oder ob ein neuer Beurteilungsmaßstab bei der Entscheidung über Anträge auf Nachteilsausgleich zugrunde zu legen ist.

Die freie Aushandlung von Lohn und Arbeitsbedingungen ist dem Beamtenrecht ebenso fremd wie der Einsatz von Arbeitskampfmaßnahmen. Umgekehrt trifft den Beamten eine besondere Pflicht zur Neutralität, politischen Mäßigung oder Verfassungstreue. All diese Besonderheiten bedingen grundlegende Ausnahmen vom Arbeits- und Tarifrecht und machen ein eigenes Rechtsregime für Beamte erforderlich. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht, welche Strukturentscheidungen aus einer Herleitung des Sonderstatusverhältnisses im Einzelnen geboten sind und inwieweit die gegenwärtige Rechtslage hiermit übereinstimmt.

Die Angabe von Kontaktdaten auf sog. Corona-Kontaktlisten (im Folgenden kurz Corona-Listen) etwa im Gastronomiebereich sollte lediglich der Kontaktnachverfolgung zu Infektionsschutzzwecken durch die Gesundheitsämter dienen. Gleichwohl haben die Strafverfolgungsbehörden zuletzt vermehrt auf diese zugegriffen. Die bestehende Rechtsunsicherheit hinsichtlich der Zulässigkeit repressiv-polizeilicher Zugriffe könnte seitens des Bundesgesetzgebers über die Schaffung des § 28a Abs. 1 Nr. 17, Abs. 4 IfSG behoben worden sein. Der vorliegende Beitrag geht der Frage nach, inwieweit für die Rechtmäßigkeit von Zugriffen auf Corona-Listen, losgelöst von infektionsschutzbedingten Zwecken und jenseits des § 28a Abs. 1 Nr. 17, Abs. 4 IfSG, eine rechtliche Grundlage zur Datenverarbeitung bestand und fortbesteht.

„Deepfakes“, also Bild- und Tonaufnahmen von Personen, die durch Künstliche Intelligenz hergestellt bzw. verändert werden und den Eindruck der „Echtheit“ erwecken, stellen eine erhebliche Bedrohung für Individualrechtsgüter, den demokratischen Willensbildungsprozess, die Gesellschaft und den Staat dar. Wie die Rechtsordnung auf dieses Phänomen reagieren sollte, ist Gegenstand aktueller Diskussionen. Dabei ist auch die Frage aufgeworfen, ob wegen der durch Deepfakes drohenden Manipulationen der Einsatz bestimmter Technologien durch die Sicherheitsbehörden gesetzlich ausgeschlossen werden sollte.

The intent of the essay is to verify if the Proposal on a Single Market For Digital Services (Digital Services Act), in the part where it aims to define the provider’s liability for illegal activity or illegal content stored at the request of a recipient of the hosting service, ends up providing greater protection for the passive provider than the Electronic Commerce Directive. It is also the intent to examine to what extent the actual increased protection of the passive provider is compensated for by greater rigor in ruling out the possibility of the providers playing an active role in hosting.

Under the current legal paradigm, the rights to privacy and data protection provide natural persons with subjective rights to protect their private interests, such as related to human dignity, individual autonomy and personal freedom. In principle, when data processing is based on non-personal or aggregated data or when such data processes have an impact on societal, rather than individual interests, citizens cannot rely on these rights. Although this legal paradigm has worked well for decades, it is increasingly put under pressure because Big Data processes are typically based indiscriminate rather than targeted data collection, because the high volumes of data are processed on an aggregated rather than a personal level and because the policies and decisions based on the statistical correlations found through algorithmic analytics are mostly addressed at large groups or society as a whole rather than specific individuals. This means that large parts of the data-driven environment are currently left unregulated and that individuals are often unable to rely on their fundamental rights when addressing the more systemic effects of Big Data processes. This article will discuss how this tension might be relieved by turning to the notion ‘quality of life’, which has the potential of becoming the new standard for the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) when dealing with privacy related cases.

Der Beitrag behandelt zunächst, was unter Archiven allgemein und im rechtswissenschaftlichen Kontext zu verstehen ist. Sodann wird insbesondere anhand des Bundesarchivgesetzes herausgearbeitet, wie staatliche Archive rechtlich reguliert sind. Im Mittelpunkt steht dabei eine Analyse des Bundesarchivgesetzes. Bei der anschließenden Untersuchung des Verhältnisses von Archivforschung und Rechtserkenntnis stehen die im Bundesarchiv gelagerten Akten des Bundesverfassungsgerichts im Mittelpunkt. Die Grundthese des Textes lautet, dass juristische Archivforschung dazu geeignet ist, eine kontextualisierende Dogmatik zu operationalisieren. Zudem werden praktische Herausforderungen beim Umgang mit Archivmaterialien vorgestellt.

Viele Hochschulen haben angekündigt, dass ein Großteil der Lehrveranstaltungen auch im Wintersemester 2021/2022 weiterhin digital stattfinden wird. Dass zwischenzeitlich nicht stärker wieder auf Präsenzveranstaltungen gesetzt wird, ruft verfassungsrechtliche Bedenken hervor, einerseits wegen des Impfangebots, welches alle Hochschulmitarbeiter und Studenten bis dahin erhalten haben werden, und andererseits wegen der Öffnungsschritte in anderen Lebensbereichen. Das Verfassungsrecht gebietet es, vollständig geimpften Studenten grundsätzlich den Zugang zu Präsenzveranstaltungen zu eröffnen. Für den Umgang mit freiwillig ungeimpften Studenten lässt das Grundgesetz hingegen verschiedene regulatorische Optionen zu.

В статье исследована роль местных советов и их комитетов в муниципальной системе европейских государств. Отмечается, что местные советы функционируют немного в иных условиях, чем несколько десятилетий назад. Традиционные основы либеральной представительной демократии, опирающиеся на выборы и политические партии, все больше размываются и дополняются каналами непосредственного влияния граждан на разработку и осуществление местной политики. Анализируются формы деятельности муниципальных советов, а также меры, направленные на активизацию муниципальных советов, повышение информированности граждан об их деятельности, вовлечение населения в решение вопросов местного значения.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

This article undertakes a survey of the changes in the structure of the interpretive doctrines of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) over time in an exploration of the aging of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR or the Convention) on its 70th anniversary. It argues that the Court’s interpretive doctrines that seek to give due deference to national rights traditions, canons and institutions have become increasingly pervasive in the Court’s procedural and substantive case law in the last two decades. This, in particular, has come at a loss for interpretative doctrines that interpret the Convention as a practical and effective living pan-European instrument. This argument is built in four parts. [---]

In the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) the right of States to control migration is firmly established despite strong indications that the effects of migration control are not racially neutral. In this article we attempt to understand how it is possible that the doctrine of sovereign migration control is not considered to breach the prohibition of racial discrimination. We argue that the ECtHR’s approach to migration and racial discrimination fits a pattern in the historical development of migration law whereby the right to travel, and the power of States to restrict this right, have been consistently defined in such a way as to protect the interests of the predominantly white population of today's global North. Hence, the ease with which the racialised impact of migration control is accepted as normal and compatible with the prohibition of racial discrimination is consistent with migration law's long history as part of colonial and postcolonial relations.

The increase in numbers of children travelling unaccompanied to Europe has provoked a sensitive debate as to how to treat their family members. While EU Member States generally grant family reunification for unaccompanied minors, the UK has opted to permit reunion in only 'exceptional circumstances'. Widely criticised, the UK government counters that child-sponsored family reunification creates incentives for unaccompanied migration that place children at risk. This article explores both policies from a human rights perspective. It suggests that, as regards children reaching Europe, EU policy is more consistent with human rights norms. However, UK policy raises legitimate questions about obligations towards children beyond Europe's borders. A rights-based justification for either EU or UK policy can be constructed, but requires recourse to additional principles on the balancing of rights among different groups of children. Clearer articulation and scrutiny of these principles could strengthen the rights rationale for child-sponsored family reunification.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or Court) has included civil servant whistleblowers in the protective ambit of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The article argues that the Court should revisit its approach to proportionality in such cases. When determining whether a restriction to a civil servant whistleblower's free speech was necessary in a democratic society, the Court weighs what the article identifies as the quasi-public watchdog function of whistleblowers (namely their role in imparting information on matters of public concern) against their duties and responsibilities as civil servants. In some instances, the Court gives primacy to whistleblowers’ duties of loyalty to the government over their contribution to the accountability of public bodies. The article challenges this approach on the basis that it fails to adequately consider the key justification that underpins the Court's recognition of whistleblowing as speech, namely the audience interest in receiving the information the whistleblower discloses. The article argues that the Court should give primacy to the watchdog function of whistleblowers. It concludes by making suggestions on how the ECtHR can adopt a more principled approach to proportionality in whistleblowing cases.

Undercover police operations have emerged from the shadows and into the spotlight in the United Kingdom as a result of a public inquiry into undercover policing and the enactment of the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act. The inquiry has revealed troubling details about the ways intelligence and police services have wielded their powers to infiltrate and undermine political groups and social movements over the course of five decades. The problem is not exclusive to the United Kingdom, but is seen the world over. Yet despite the widescale nature of the problem, the legality of agents provocateurs – undercover officers who infiltrate social and political movements to manipulate their messaging, instigate violent tactics and undermine public perception – has received scant attention in legal scholarship or the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. This article capitalises on the current spotlight to suggest that agents provocateurs can and should be conceived of as (potential) violations of the right to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights. A purposive approach is required to ensure protection for not only the means of expression – the exchange of information and ideas – but also the ends – vibrant democratic discourse and meaningful public debate.

The minimalist critique of human rights advanced by legal historian Samuel Moyn argues that human rights are ineffective in addressing material inequality because, rather than striving for equality, they focus on ensuring sufficient protection levels. This article analyses the right to education model which international human rights bodies have expanded to demonstrate the overstretched nature of the minimalist critique. By examining how the right to education provisions of international human rights treaties are interpreted by various United Nations human rights mechanisms, the article argues that the international human rights system has advanced a model of right to education that reaches beyond the notion of sufficiency. The works of these bodies are analysed in light of the privatisation of education. In defining the connection between the equality and liberty dimensions of the right to education, international human rights bodies have prioratised ensuring equal opportunities over the liberty to private education. The aim of the right to education is not merely to provide basic literacy to the poor but also to assure equal educational opportunities to all.

В настоящее время система международного сотрудничества государств переживает серьезный кризис. В полной мере это касается сотрудничества в сфере прав человека, что особенно заметно на фоне значительного уменьшения роли универсальных правовых регуляторов международных отношений. Политика двойных стандартов – это реалии современного мира, негативно сказывающиеся на уровне состояния международного сотрудничества Российской Федерации с международными организациями в сфере прав человека. [---]

Первоначальная система, созданная Европейской конвенцией о правах человека, основана на хрупком равновесии. В качестве первого шага такое равновесие было достигнуто за счет создания механизма, который обеспечивал бы защиту национальной восприимчивости к амбициозным целям, поставленным европейским проектом. Успех этой системы привел к реформированию Протокола № 11, что укрепило его юрисдикционный характер. [---]

The subject of my paper is the analysis of the exclusive right of communication to the public – from the point of view of the CJEU jurisprudence. Therefore, I touch upon problems related to the most significant elements of public communication abstracted from the judgments of the CJEU. In my considerations, I analyse such issues as the concept of “the act of communication to the public,” the so-called “new public,” issues of a profit-making nature of communication to the public, the mental aspect of public communication and, finally, the question of the hyperlink. My study is critical and is not only intended to present the position of the CJEU. It aims to demonstrate that legislative changes are necessary in the EU directives on copyright and related rights. Otherwise, the CJEU itself will become such a legislator, which may eventually even destabilize the copyright system. CJEU judgments are only random decisions in specific cases, and not comprehensive solutions necessary to introduce new regulations.

In a world first, a judge of the Federal Court of Australia has found that artificial intelligence (AI) is capable of being an “inventor” for the purposes of the Australian patent regime. This is one more chapter in the global debate as to whether patent law and policy should adapt to recognize the changing innovation landscape. This decision is one of a series of test cases globally regarding the effect of AI “inventors” on the current state of patent law in certain jurisdictions. The confirmation that, in Australia, AI can be “inventors” under our existing regime (subject to any appeal decision) is contrary to the position in the UK, the European Patent Office (EPO) and the USA, where an inventor must be a natural person.

The star of the movie “Rebel without a Cause,” James Dean, died in 1955. Yet the latest film he will officially be credited in, dates back to no sooner than 2020. Indeed, the movie “Finding Jack” will incorporate a hologram of James Dean, resurrected from the dead to play a character in this brand new performance under his name. This does not represent an exceptional singular case however. Technology is advancing at a drastic pace; which legislation sometimes struggles to keep up with. The novel ways of digitally reproducing human beings have brought along with them serious questions concerning Personality Rights protection. These rights diverge considerably from one jurisdiction to another, on a variety of topics such as the acknowledgement of posthumous protection or the scope of the right to privacy versus publicity rights, for example. This paper offers an evaluation of these rights, based on a comparative analysis across different civil and common law countries, which will hopefully provide an insight into how image rights are being safeguarded at present. The paper concludes proposing a potential future framework to ensure personality right protection in an increasingly digitized world.

Japanese patenting system on biotechnological inventions is unique. In 1979, before the US Supreme court's decision in the Chakrabarti case (1980), the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) had issued the “Implementing Guidelines for the Invention of Microorganisms,” and microorganism was considered as patentable. Japan lacks case laws. However, we can find cases like the Engineered Mice case. This study paper critically surveys and focuses on the Japanese life science (Gene/DNA) patenting system and its prevailing issues. This paper critically analyzes the current position and practices of the JPO on DNA patenting, including induced pluripotent stem cells as well as CRISPR gene-editing technique, its challenges, and its potential future courses on this issue; the basis of granting a patent for DNA in Japan; Japanese outlook at ethical (living organisms) aspects of DNA patenting; depository system in Japan; the impacts of the tragedy of anticommons in Japan; “Creative Commons” movement; and others.

At this critical threshold of expansion of commercial activity off the Earth’s surface − in Low Earth Orbit, around 2,000 kilometers from Earth on the moon, and on Mars − the need to fill the void of legal regulation in space, which is now a legal “no man’s land,” is increasing with every launch. Trademarks in outer space, for example, have been debated for decades, but nothing has been done since space travel began in 1957. With multiple countries traveling in outer space now, and Earth-orbit hotels, together with moon and Mars cities, planned, the legal structure for trademarks in outer space needs to be implemented now to avoid chaos off-world. This brief review sets out the current legal situation and principles and parameters for a working model, including how WIPO can be an important player in this process. The reation of rights in international treaties and national statutes needs to be followed by enforcement of rights via courts, contracts, arbitration, and mediation. Only trademarks will be reviewed here, but these principles can also be applied to patents, copyright and other intellectual property (IP) rights.

When we think on initiatives on access to and reuse of data, we must consider both the European Intellectual Property Law and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The first one provides a special intellectual property (IP) right – the sui generis right – for those makers that made a substantial investment when creating the database, whether it contains personal or non-personal data. That substantial investment can be made by just one person, but, in many cases, it is the result of the activities of many people and/or some undertakings processing and aggregating data. In the modern digital economy, data are being dubbed the ‘new oil’ and the sui generis right might be considered a right to control any access to the database, thus having an undeniable relevance. Besides, there are still important inconsistences between IP Law and the GDPR, which must be removed by the European legislator. The genuine and free consent of the data subject for the use of his/her data must remain the first step of the legal analysis.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

Re-entry to society is challenging and inmates often feel unprepared for release. Insufficient human and social capital makes it difficult to cope with the challenges of everyday life outside prison. In Norway the aim of prisoner rehabilitation is to counteract new criminal acts, and make it possible for the convicted person to change his or her criminal patterns. This qualitative study aimed to explore and describe inmates’ perceptions and experiences of how they were prepared for release from a Norwegian open prison. Three focus group interviews with inmates were conducted. A thematic content analysis of the data resulted in three categories: 1) life outside, 2) working as a community and 3) useful learning for the future. Our findings indicate that inmates were prepared in several ways to return to the society. One aspect was the social climate where inmates were treated with humanity by staff. Inmates received training in local democracy, and developed hope for the future, self-reliance and personal agency, which strengthened their process of preparing for release. Inhibiting factors seemed to be an emotional vulnerability, inadequate preparation for modern working life and poorly planned release preparation. This study indicates the importance of maintaining open prisons with humanistic values.

Evidence emerging from our novel in-prison survey shows that non-criminal legal problems of prison inmates mainly relate to family law matters, contract liability, and administrative procedures. The rate of subjects who face legal issues increases after imprisonment. Employing logit estimation techniques, we test the hypothesis according to which isolation due to imprisonment obstructs legal problem resolution. Results suggest that the open-cell regime has increased the rate of resolution of some family-related problems (divorce and child custody) while not affecting others (legacy issues). Similarly, while common problems with the public administration seem easier to solve under the open-cell regime, those related to contract liability do not. We infer that the open-cell regime may support the resolution of legal problems that usually require standardised approaches. Policy implications supporting the open-cell regime follow.

CCTV is associated with reductions in property crime and narcotics crime, but mainly in parking lots and residential areas. Recent findings from Sweden have suggested that the association of CCTV with crime may be different in deprived neighbourhoods where criminal networks exert alarge influence. In addition, much less research has been done on the impact of CCTV on crime clearance. The present study follows up on this by considering changes in crime, and crime clearance, associated with CCTV in three deprived neighbourhoods in Gothenburg. Changes in recorded crime for seven crime types and their clearance rate is followed. The changes are compared with changes at similar locations in six other deprived neighbourhoods. The results show that relative to controls, violence was significantly reduced at treatment areas. No significant change was noted for property crime. Crime clearance rates increased at treatment areas relative to controls for both property crimes and violent crimes, but no change was significant. This suggests aneed for further study on contextual differences of different locations for CCTV, to ascertain whether the effect on violence in deprived neighbourhoods can be replicated. It also raises questions on whether the CCTV is cost-effective.

Individual, cultural and structural barriers exist in reporting rape to the police. Our study’s context is Norway, where reporting is more accepted than before and is even encouraged. Still, few who experience rape report the incident. Based on qualitative interviews we examine how women who refrain from reporting rapes give their choice meaning. We draw from Boltanski and Thévenot’s version of cultural sociology, especially the idea that meaning-making in concrete situations relates to wider ‘regimes of justification’: particular framings that render choices and interpretations intelligible. The aftermath of rape leaves women with having to balance their own and others’ needs and expectations. In talking about the rape and how they afterwards manoeuvre to reconcile conflicting norms and needs, the women activate two different regimes of justification; an instrumental and an ontological. They negotiate between expectations set out in an instrumental regime of justification, focusing on acts and actions, and a more ontological regime of justification, wherein focus lies on their sense of self and future identities. They position themselves as ‘evolving selves’, a position from where they are able to prevent further ruptures by deploying a developmental logic rather than answering the call to ‘do the right thing’ and report.

The digitization of society creates both challenges and opportunities for prisons. Previous studies show that prisons’ digitization affects interaction between incarcerated people, prison culture and reduces recidivism, however it also poses security risks. In this study, we ask how do barriers to digital inclusion appear among incarcerated people in the prison context, and how do they perceive whether face-to-face interactions with employees can be replaced by digital services. The analytical starting points of the study are rhetorical analysis and Goffman´s micro-sociological analysis. The research material consists of 26 incarcerated people’s interviews from different parts of Finland. The results show that gaps in digital skills and access to the internet are key barriers to digital inclusion in prisons. The question of whether digital services can replace face-to-face encounters raised conflicting comments. Interviewees emphasized the importance of social interaction in their desistance, but also the benefits of digitization such as the possibility of anonymity. In addition, the research highlights the tense nature of prison culture, as well as the different aspirations of prisoners. The pursuit of digital agency can also manifest itself in various secondary adjustments. The digitization of prisons means a change in the prison employee’s role and work approach.

Parin viime vuoden ajan maalittaminen uutena ja haitallisena, erityisesti sosiaalisen median ilmiönä on ollut paljon esillä julkisessa keskustelussa. Maalittamisella tarkoitetaan yleensä jonkinlaista yhteen ihmiseen kohdistuvaa organisoitua vihapuhetta, yksityisluontoisten tietojen levittämistä ja muunlaista häirintää pääasiassa viestein ja kirjoituksin sosiaalisessa mediassa ja internetin keskustelupalstoilla, mutta myös muilla tavoin ja jopa väkivallalla uhaten. Lisäksi osana maalittamistyyppistä häirintää saatetaan tehdä kohteesta esimerkiksi perättömiä rikosilmoituksia tai lastensuojeluilmoituksia. Riippumatta aloitusviestin muodosta, maalittamisella tarkoitetaan lähtökohtaisesti järjestelmällistä toimintaa, jonka nimenomaisena tarkoituksena on joukkovoimaa hyväksi käyttäen hyökätä kohdetta vastaan esimerkiksi pyrkien vaientamaan tämä tai muulla tavoin vaikuttamaan kohteen toimintaan. Artikkelin keskeinen kysymys on siis maalittamisilmiön määrittelyongelma erityisesti tekijöiden rangaistusvastuun määrittelemisen näkökulmasta.

Empiirisen tutkimustiedon perusteella on ilmeistä, että yrityskulttuurilla on merkittävä yhtiöissä tapahtuvia väärinkäytöksiä selittävä merkitys. Yrityskulttuurilla tarkoitetaan tässä artikkelissa yhtiössä toimivien kesken jaettua sosiaalista tietoa vallitsevista normeista, uskomuksista ja arvoista, jotka vaikuttavat yhtiön edustajien asenteisiin ja käyttäytymiseen. Kirjoituksessa yrityskulttuuria tarkastellaan oikeudellisessa vastuukehikossa, jotta voisimme hahmottaa abstraktin kulttuurisen ilmiön konkreettista sääntelyllistä merkitystä. Kysymyksenasettelu on suomalaisessa oikeudellisessa tutkimuksessa varsin tuore, eikä yrityskulttuurin merkitystä yhtiöiden rangaistusvastuun näkökulmasta ole aiemmin juurikaan tarkasteltu. Yritystoiminnan vastuullisuus ja eettisyys on juridisessakin keskustelussa ajankohtaisempaa kuin koskaan, ja myös rikosoikeuden on osallistuttava tähän keskusteluun omalta osaltaan. Artikkelissa lähestytään yrityskulttuuria yksilön kontekstisidonnaisen päätöksenteon näkökulmasta. Tällöin on kyse siitä, miten kulttuuriset seikat vaikuttavat yksilön ja tämän toiminnan kannalta merkityksellisen ryhmän päätöksentekoon.

Obwohl das Grundgesetz seit 18 Jahren auch „die Tiere“ schützt, ist die Haltung von sogenannten landwirtschaftlichen Nutztieren in der strafrechtlichen Ahndung kaum ein Thema. Der Tierschutz wird in der Praxis nur extrem zögerlich durchgesetzt. Neben dem konsequenten Um- und Abbau der Tierhaltung, der mit veränderten Konsummustern und einer Anpassung der Haltungsbedingungen einhergehen muss, ist eine Anpassung des Tierschutzstrafrechts notwendig.

Esirikokseen osallisen tekemän rahanpesun (ns. itsepesu) kriminalisointi on koettu Suomessa pitkään ongelmalliseksi. Tämän vuoksi myös suhtautuminen itsepesun rangaistavaksi säätämiseen on ollut lainsäätäjän ja oikeustieteilijöiden keskuudessa yleisesti ottaen varsin nihkeää. Rikosoikeustieteellisesti itsepesun rangaistavaksi säätämisessä on ollut kyse varsin periaatteellisesta kysymyksestä, jonka keskiössä on ollut muun ohessa sanotun kriminalisoinnin ja suomalaiseen rikossystematiikkaan kuuluvien oikeusperiaatteiden yhteensovittaminen siten, ettei itsepesusta erillinen rankaiseminen olisi ristiriidassa niiden kanssa. Tämä on osoittautunut viimeisen vuosikymmenen aikana varsin haasteelliseksi tehtäväksi. Tässä artikkelissa analysoidaan lainopillisesta näkökulmasta itsepesun rangaistavuutta ja sen suhdetta lainkonkurrenssiopin alaisuuteen sijoittuvaan myötärangaistuja tekoja koskevaan oppiin. Artikkelissa pyritään vastaamaan siihen, minkälaiset rahanpesuteot saattavat Suomessa voimassa olevassa oikeudessa tulla tuomituiksi itsepesuna. Tutkimuksellisena tavoitteena on ennen kaikkea systematisoida ja jäsentää myötärangaistuja tekoja koskevaa oppia sekä jälkiteon rangaistavuuden tulkintakriteerejä itsepesukriminalisoinnin kannalta. Käsitteellisesti myötärangaistuja tekoja koskevassa opissa on kyse siitä, voidaanko jonkin tietyn tunnusmerkistön toteuttavia tekoja pitää myötärangaistuina esi- tai jälkitekoina jonkin toisen tunnusmerkistön sisällä siten, että niistä ei ole tarpeen tuomita päärikoksen lisäksi erillistä rangaistusta.

Seit einiger Zeit wird unter dem Stichwort „Femizid“ darüber diskutiert, unter welchen Umständen die Tötung einer Frau als Mord mit lebenslanger Freiheitsstrafe geahndet werden soll. Bei Lichte betrachtet geht es vorrangig um die strafrechtliche Bewertung von Trennungstötungen. Die einschlägige höchstrichterliche Rechtsprechung läuft tendenziell auf eine sachlich nicht gerechtfertigte Privilegierung trennungstypischer Tötungsbeweggründe männlicher Täter hinaus. Da eine Binnenkorrektur in absehbarer Zeit nicht zu erwarten steht, sollte der Gesetzgeber eine Intervention erwägen.

Catcalling macht anlässlich einer Onlinepetition, die dessen Sanktionierbarkeit fordert, von sich Reden. Nachfolgend wird erläutert, worum es sich beim Catcalling handelt und weshalb es überhaupt ein Problem darstellt. Sodann wird die Notwendigkeit eines eigenständigen gesetzlichen Verbots kritisch diskutiert.

A new rape legislation, premised on the requirement of voluntariness, entered into force in Sweden during 2018. This article examines the application and interpretation of voluntariness in Swedish negligent rape judgements with a unique combination of the theoretical perspectives’ sociology of emotion and feminist-legal studies. The material consists of 12 court judgements, from the period 2018–2020, analysed by means of thematic content analysis. The findings show that the judgements in negligent rape cases are based on an evaluation of credibility, supported by evidence that consists of witness statements. These evaluations entail emotions and stereotypes about gender and sexuality, pertaining to rape myths – leading to inconsistent outcomes. Yet, some fundamental assumptions about gender and sexuality are challenged, indicating that the new law may invite discursive shifts and enhanced reflexivity in legal reasoning. The findings are valuable in the work to minimize legal discrimination and secure equality before the law.

The aim of this article is to examine incarcerated women’s cooking and eating practices in a Danish open prison to gain insight into the Nordic penal exceptionalism debate. Self-catering and the policy of normalization, which dictates that prison conditions be as similar as possible to conditions outside the prison, have been seen by some as evidence of humane prison conditions. This article draws on three months of ethnographic fieldwork to argue that incarcerated women in a mixed-gender Danish open prison use cooking and eating to display family, articulate allegiance, and negotiate relations of exchange. Incarcerated women used food preparation to maintain relationships with family and negotiate relationships with other prisoners, yet data also reveal the ways in which incarceration and turnover profoundly strained these relationships. I argue that self-catering is worth emulating while emphasizing the limitations of labelling it humane and propose that turnover deserves further research.

В статье исследуются уголовно-правовые аспекты актуальной проблемы защиты неприкосновенности личности от недопустимой активности представителей государства при осуществлении правоохранительной функции. Злободневные для теории и практики вопросы правовой природы провокации преступления и фальсификации преступников остаются дискуссионными. Не разработаны единые подходы к квалификации провокационно-подстрекательских действий и случаев «подбрасывания» гражданам предметов, за оборот которых наступает уголовная ответственность, отсутствует теоретическое обоснование уголовно-правового статуса лиц, спровоцированных на совершение преступления. В статье показано, что квалификацию распространенных случаев провокации преступлений и фальсификации преступников по нормам, предусматривающим ответственность за превышение должностных полномочий, фальсификацию доказательств или результатов оперативно-розыскной деятельности следует признать не точной.  [---]

Environmental models are ubiquitous in assessing the environmental impacts of planned projects. Modelling is an inferential process and includes various mechanisms to address the uncertainty of the outcome. In this article, we acknowledge the continuum of uncertainty assessments and identify the legal mechanisms with which Finnish judicial review – characterised by broad scope of review and in-house expert judges – has encountered model uncertainty. Closely examining 10 waters-related cases heard by the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, we explain the porous yet substantial boundary between science and law revealed by the cases. The cases demonstrate the elegance with which courts can strike a balance between the contingent precautionary principle, gradually decreasing scientific uncertainty, and the procedural constraints under which they operate. We conclude by analysing the traces towards reciprocality and adaptivity the cases reveal, encouraged by the iterative modelling mechanism and challenged by the constitutional restrictions on the scope of review.

The Paris Agreement is the first universal climate change agreement requiring all parties to communicate ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets to achieve a long-term global temperature goal. The Paris Agreement is a game-changer at the international level, but has it been at the national (and sub-national) level? What has been the influence of the Paris Agreement on litigation to improve mitigation of and adaptation to climate change? This question is addressed in two articles. Both articles seek to look at a familiar topic – the Paris Agreement and climate litigation – in new and fresh ways. This second article examines how the Paris Agreement is influencing fact-finding in administrative and judicial decision-making, transforming corporate governance to be better attuned to climate risk and contributing to a ripple effect in climate litigation. The article first considers how the Paris Agreement has altered the factual considerations of climate change by demonstrating global agreement on the causal link between anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and the catastrophic consequences of climate change. Secondly, it illustrates how the Paris Agreement is affecting legal responsibilities by focusing on the influence of the Paris Agreement on corporate directors’ duties. Thirdly, it notes the ripple effect of climate litigation, contributing to the continued development of climate law.

The prescription of ‘unlicensed’ cannabis-based medicines was legalised in 2018. A ‘boundary work’ analysis of the post reform guidance issued for doctors reveals a discourse which frames the prescription of medicinal cannabis as a matter for clinical judgement, but also as fraught with medico-legal hazard. The article highlights a triad of rhetorical devices comprising the ‘last resort’ principle, ‘personal responsibility’ and the randomised controlled trial as an exclusive measure of ‘safety and efficacy’. Having identified a pronounced signalling of medico-legal risk which is likely to have a chilling effect on prescribing, this article explores how the Bolam-Bolitho formulation of the legal standard of care in negligence litigation might respond to this new domain of prescribing. This article concludes with observations about the compatibility of innovative prescribing of unlicensed cannabis medicines with the standard of care in negligence law, notwithstanding the extreme caution inherent in the interim prescribing guidance.

The current increase in global infertility rate and the consequent access to medically assisted procreation have contributed to the fragmentation of the reproductive process. This is also due to the development of cryopreservation techniques for gametes and embryos, whose use is therefore progressively delayed over time, sometimes even after the death of one of the partners. However, few European countries permit post mortem fertilization. Following a reconstruction of the legislation of those EU Member States allowing the practice, this contribution focuses on the jurisprudential reaction in countries, such as France, Germany and Italy, where post mortem fertilization is prohibited by the legislature. In doing so, the role of informed consent is highlighted, especially where it was not expressed by the deceased, due to an unexpected and sudden fatal event, and the surviving partner wants a child from the deceased. Based on a comparison with the findings of US scholars, this article elaborates further on the advantages of the default option in gamete retrieval for procreative purposes, which is increasingly requested also by parents looking for genetic continuity. Perceived differently outside the Western legal tradition, the lack of offspring opens the doors to recognize the interest of pursuing by post mortem fertilization a family genetic heritage.

In 2016, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted General Comment 22 on the right to sexual and reproductive health, which affirmed that states are obliged to adopt "appropriate legislative measures" to achieve the full realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights. It affirmed that the right to sexual and reproductive health is an integral part of the right to health and recognizes abortion services as a component part of the right to health. While a liberal legislation is in itself a step towards the realization of this obligation, in this article we explore a number of potential barriers to abortion access in an autonomy-based legal model using the Danish legal model as the case study.

Considerations comprised in the article concern the problem of mandatory vaccination in Poland. Particular attention is paid to the issue of conscientious exemption from the vaccine obligation. The article presents the problem of social support for vaccination in Poland, the arguments issued by vaccination opponents, the current legal status of vaccination in Poland, and finally - the legal analysis regarding the introduction of a conscientious exemption from mandatory vaccination in Poland. The article focuses on judicial opportunities of introducing conscientious exemption in the field of mandatory vaccination; it presents possibilities and obstacles to establishing institution under discussion. The thesis that public health reasons should prevail over conscientious or moral demands is advocated in the article.

We reflect on the extent to which Nordic countries have safeguarded the right to health of older persons during the pandemic in 2020. All Nordic states have ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and thereby committed to recognising the right to health. We use the AAAQ framework developed by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to draw attention to aspects of the respective states' responses. The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on the health of older persons, from the direct effects of the virus, such as illness and death, to indirect impacts, like isolation and loneliness. We find that Nordic states have at times failed to prioritise the full realisation of the core obligations of the right to health for older persons, namely, non-discrimination and provision of essential healthcare. Resource constraints cannot justify discrimination or failure to respect autonomy, integrity and human dignity. 

This article considers the liability of healthcare professionals during public health crises in Ireland. It argues that Covid-19 has shown that Irish law lacks protective measures for healthcare practitioners who elect to value high-capacity care over best possible treatment to smaller numbers of patients. Such a prohibition, it is contended, has the potential to be fatal to the management of public health emergencies and can lead to defensive clinical practices which serve to slow or halt progress in the provision of emergency healthcare. As such, a broad, accessible and clearly-defined immunity regime limited to periods of crisis is recommended in order to allow for the protection of the practitioner and the provision of healthcare to the masses.

In recent years, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the medical field has attracted increased attention. Due to their impressive advantages, AI systems offer excellent prospects for medical device manufacturers using these systems to upgrade their products. Such AI-based medical devices are already subject to partial regulation within the lines of Medical device regulation 745/2017. However, following the proposal for a regulation on artificial intelligence published by the European Commission, the regulatory landscape for these devices has partially changed. This article aims to clarify the influences that this regulatory intervention by the European Commission brings to the path towards the use and marketing of AI-based medical devices.

Der Beitrag arbeitet die verwaltungs- und verfassungsrechtlichen Hintergründe von sog. „Nichtanwendungserlassen“ im Gesundheitsrecht umfassend auf. Nichtanwendungserlasse stammen ursprünglich aus dem Steuerrecht: Das Bundesministerium für Finanzen weist die Finanzämter an, eine Entscheidung des Bundesfinanzhofs über den entschiedenen Einzelfall hinaus nicht anzuwenden. Im Rahmen der Debatte um den Zugang zu letal wirkenden Betäubungsmitteln zur Selbsttötung hat nun auch der (noch) amtierende Gesundheitsminister von diesem Instrument Gebrauch gemacht und das Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte angewiesen, ein Urteil des Bundesverwaltungsgerichts aus dem Jahr 2017 nicht anzuwenden. Der Beitrag soll verdeutlichen, dass Nichtanwendungserlasse, die grundrechtssensible Bereiche betreffen, rechtsstaatliche Prinzipien grundlegend missachten und unzulässig sind.

Kinder und Jugendliche ab zwölf Jahren können in Impfzentren und bei niedergelassenen Ärzten gegen Covid-19 geimpft werden. Die Ständige Impfkommission (STIKO) am Robert-Koch-Institut hat kürzlich eine Impfempfehlung gegeben. In der Gesellschaft wird die Impfung aber nicht von allen befürwortet. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt sich die Frage, wem die Entscheidung über die Impfung von Kindern und Jugendlichen obliegt – und was passiert, wenn sich diejenigen, die in die Impfung einwilligen müssen, nicht einig werden.

Defensive medicine describes behaviours engaged in by physicians, for the purposes of averting the threat of medical negligence litigation and/or complaints. Defensive practice typically encompasses 'assurance' or 'avoidance' behaviours, or 'positive' or 'negative' defensive medicine. Assurance behaviours include, for example, meticulous notetaking and ordering further clinically unnecessary tests, whereas avoidance behaviours encompass actions such as refusing to engage with a patient perceived to be high-risk. Whilst such practices may be understandable, defensive medicine is problematic for a number of reasons: it may result in a lower standard of patient care, where for example, a patient is exposed to unnecessary risk(s); and it can increase healthcare costs, which in turn limits resources. Drawing on the findings of a survey of surgeons in Ireland, this study investigates the existence of defensive practices, and explores the impact of the civil and regulatory responses to patient safety incidents on surgical practice. Given the increasing emphasis on patient safety and cultivating a "no-blame" culture both nationally and internationally, the findings of this research illustrate the tension between the current medico-legal and regulatory environment and medical practice, with implications for quality and safety.

The German and the Dutch criminal justice systems not only share a common legal history but also follow the inquisitorial tradition with the prosecution playing a strong role. Despite these commonalities, there are a number of remarkable differences between the two jurisdictions, particularly with a view to procedural law and legal practices. While the German criminal law is known for being formal and rather doctrinal, the Dutch system is strongly driven by pragmatism and efficiency. This efficiency has become an important factor for the progressing Europeanization of criminal law and increasingly influences German criminal procedural law. This article compares selected aspects of the Dutch and German criminal justice systems. While previous legal comparative studies of the two neighbouring countries have focused on substantive criminal law, this paper will mainly deal with procedural criminal law and prosecutorial practices. The emphasis will be on criminal justice effectiveness and efficiency. Some of the questions addressed are: what constitutes an efficient criminal justice system? How is efficiency defined and implemented in legal practice? A variety of indicators for criminal justice efficiency are proposed and applied to criminal proceedings, prosecutorial practices and the sentencing systems in both countries.

Die Strafprozessordnung hat mit Wirkung vom 1.7.2021 eine Vielzahl erheblicher Änderungen erfahren, unter anderem eine Neufassung der Begriffsbestimmung der „Nachtzeit“ in § 104 III StPO. Für dieses Reformelement wird in den Gesetzesmaterialien auf die „Einheitlichkeit der Rechtsordnung“ im Umfeld eines Begriffs rekurriert, der durch die Hand des Gesetzgebers vielfach sachgebietsindividuelle Ausgestaltung erfahren hat. Der Beitrag ordnet die Neuregelung im Hinblick auf das genannte Einheitlichkeitspostulat in einen übergeordneten rechtsmethodischen und -dogmatischen Rahmen ein.

Diese Untersuchung präsentiert ausgewählte Ergebnisse der ersten umfassenden und systematischen Analyse der verwaltungsgerichtlichen Judikatur zu den sogenannten Corona-Maßnahmen. Zur Datengewinnung wurde ein computergestütztes Verfahren eingesetzt, welches maßgeblich auf von den Autoren entwickelten bzw. programmierten Algorithmen fußt. Mit diesem Ansatz konnte ein Datenbestand aus fast 5.000 verwaltungsgerichtlichen Entscheidungen gefiltert und mehr als 2.300 Entscheidungen (im Volltext) einer näheren Analyse unterzogen werden. Die damit vorliegende empirische Evidenz kann die juristische ebenso wie gesellschaftspolitische Diskussion in vielerlei Weisen befruchten und in evidenzbasierte Bahnen lenken.

Artikkelissa esitetään monitieteisen, psykojuridisen näkemys tuomarin päätöksenteosta. Tavoitteena on varsinkin ulkomaisen tutkimuksen avulla muodostaa psykologisesti realistinen kuva tuomioistuinratkaisun keksimisestä. Erityisen tarkastelun kohteena on rangaistuksen määrääminen käräjäoikeudessa yhden tuomarin kokoonpanossa. Tuomioistuinratkaisujen tutkimus on yleensä vahvasti keskittynyt ratkaisun oikeuttamisen kontekstiin. Tässä artikkelissa osoitetaan, että myös ratkaisun keksimisen kontekstia voidaan tutkia tieteellisesti ja empiirisesti. Rikostuomioita on tarpeellista lähestyä paitsi perustelujen kautta myös siitä näkökulmasta, miten niihin päädytään kognitiivisessa mielessä.

Ab dem 1.1.2022 sind Anwältinnen und Anwälte verpflichtet, elektronisch mit den Gerichten zu kommunizieren. Schriftsätze in Papier oder Telefax werden bis auf Ausnahmen als unwirksam behandelt werden. Im Nachfolgenden werden die Pflicht zur elektronischen Kommunikation und ihre Auswirkungen für die Anwaltschaft näher dargestellt. Der Schwerpunkt des Beitrags liegt auf den bis heute von der Rechtsprechung dazu entwickelten Grundsätzen und Anforderungen.

Гармонизация процессуального законодательства различных правовых систем выступает одной из современных тенденций развития правосудия. Новейшим проявлением такой гармонизации являются Типовые европейские правила гражданского процесса, разработанные в 2020 г. Европейским институтом права совместно с Международным институтом унификации частного права (УНИДРУА). В Типовых правилах аккумулированы лучшие законодательные практики, реализованные в европейских юрисдикциях, в том числе в части регулирования института доказывания. Именно в данной сфере расхождения в различных правовых системах – англосаксонской и континентальной – проявляются максимально остро, что усложняет процесс универсализации судопроизводства и сближения различных правопорядков. В статье анализируется реализованная в Типовых правилах попытка унификации норм о распределении бремени доказывания, что призвано оценить возможность имплементации отдельных правил в национальную систему процессуального права.

Рассматриваются проблемные вопросы развития уголовно-процессуальных гарантий обеспечения прав и законных интересов предпринимателей по делам о преступлениях, совершенных в сфере предпринимательской и иной экономической деятельности. Акцент сделан на исследовании тенденций правового регулирования особого порядка рассмотрения сообщения о преступлении и возбуждения уголовного дела, избрания мер пресечения, признания документов и предметов вещественными доказательствами, освобождения от уголовной ответственности и прекращения уголовного преследования по делам о преступлениях в сфере предпринимательской деятельности. Особое внимание уделено анализу основных тенденций развития уголовного и уголовно-процессуального законодательства, а также правовых позиций Верховного Суда Российской Федерации. [---]

In today’s world, no treaty regulates the cyberspace or the Internet. To some extent, the multi-stakeholder model has successfully kept the Internet free of a unique point of control, yet some nation-states advocate for a government-based-model. Amid the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) transition debate, some governments favoured a cyberspace regulation in the hands of an inter-governmental organisation. Additionally, western democracies have advocated to declare the cyberspace a fifth domain. Reasons for these different perceptions are related to the different conceptions nation-states have what should be the governance model for a resource beyond their traditional borders. Considering this dichotomy, this paper analyses the negative implications of applying the law of the sea into cyberspace. For this purpose, this paper will explore the concept of the ‘right of hot pursuit’, one of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). [---]

Wird die Ehefrau einer gebärenden Frau mit Geburt des Kindes kraft Gesetzes dessen (Mit-)Mutter – ebenso wie deren Ehemann der Vater wäre – oder muss sie das Kind erst adoptieren? Die parlamentarische Lösung dieses Konflikts ist vorläufig gescheitert, woraufhin sich die Angelegenheit nach Karlsruhe zum „legislator of last resort“ begeben hat. Der Fall illustriert zwei rechts- und verfassungspolitische Grundsatzfragen unserer Zeit: Wie ist in einer Gesellschaft frei wählbarer Familienformen mit den Defiziten des Abstammungsrechts umzugehen, das ungeachtet punktueller Veränderungen an einen tradierten Familienbegriff anknüpft? Und welche politischen Kämpfe gehören in die Arena des Parlaments, welche eher in den Sitzungssaal des BVerfG?

In 2010, France and Germany introduced a common optional matrimonial property regime of participation in acquisitions in both countries. One of its goals was to establish European harmonization, up until then a rare occurrence in the broad field of family law. The harmonization journey was continued by Belgium in 2018, when the Franco-German agreement was taken over in the Belgian Civil Code. This article evaluates the Franco-German regime from both an internal and an external point of view in order to determine the success of this operation. In the internal analysis, the regime will be presented as a modern and balanced compromise between the French and German domestic participation in acquisition regimes. In the external analysis, the regime will be qualified as a legal transplant in Belgium that at this moment in time does not survive the operation. Despite this seemingly negative evaluation, the regime may still increase its success rate, provided all actors involved take the required measures. In any case, the regime should be welcomed as harmonization initiative, considering that new projects may learn from its successes as well as from its stumbling blocks.

Traditionally, parents are deemed to have a certain immunity from liability towards their children. In the Netherlands, however, this view is subject to change and the question of how to deal with the assessment of liability for dangerous actions by parents with regard to their children should be addressed. This struggle is reflected, for example, in a recent judgement by the Gelderland District Court. (Rechtbank Gelderland 10 September. 2018, ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2018:4466, VR 2019/85, para. 4.6.) In Germany, which has a special provision on parental liability towards their children in the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB), the debate on this topic within the judiciary and in the literature has progressed further. On the basis of a recent Dutch case, this contribution will compare the Dutch and German law on the liability of parents and examines on which points German and/or Dutch law deserve to be followed when it comes to the liability of parents for dangerous actions towards their children.

Цифровизация государственной регистрации заключения брака является частью происходящего процесса построения информационного общества и электронного государства. В настоящее время создан Единый государственный реестр ЗАГС, оцифрован архив ЗАГС, что обеспечивает сбор, обработку, хранение, получение, использование и защиту информации о семейно-правовом статусе гражданина, а также актуальность и достоверность таких сведений. Исторически институт государственной регистрации брака, определяя компромисс между частным и публичным интересом, выполнял три основные функции: охранительную, подтверждающую и учетную. Супружеской паре предоставляется правовая охрана прав и законных интересов исключительно при соблюдении установленного требования о государственной регистрации брака. Государственная регистрация является единственным допустимым доказательством при оспаривании наличия или отсутствия супружеских правоотношений (личных неимущественных и имущественных). Демографическая составляющая государственной регистрации брака способствует формированию эффективной государственной политики в сфере семьи и брака.

The sanctity of contracts, a guiding principle of contract law in civil law systems, requires that both or all contracting parties be expected to meet their contractual obligations, thereby ensuring efficacy and efficiency of private ordering. Under extraordinary circumstances, however, legal systems provide for mechanisms, which may excuse contractual performance or lead to adaption or termination of contractual obligations. Since the coronavirus pandemic, these mechanisms have clearly gained traction. Drawing on five important civil law jurisdictions (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy), this article elaborates on excuses of contractual performance and remedies for breach of contract and on adaption or termination of contractual obligations. The article aims to address the fundamental questions, whether these excuses and remedies and institutions on adaption or termination still serve their purpose in times of pandemic or whether and to what extent a uniform breach of contract action or a codification of such institutions is needed in European Contract Law. A functional and comparative approach is used to unfold and analyse these timeless questions from a contemporary perspective.

This article focuses on the scope of party autonomy in EU family regulations, especially in cases of marriage dissolution with an international element. Through the lens of a case study, the author analyses whether provisions allowing party autonomy in EU family regulations are consistent and wide enough to enable parties to find a solution that best fits their interests. The paper concludes that the advantages of party autonomy in private international family law outweigh the associated risks which should be mitigated by safeguarding measures.

In recent years a significant increase in applications sent to Polish institutions to obtain the return of abducted children under the 1980 Hague Abduction Convention can be observed. Simultaneously, Poland has struggled with a problem of excessively long court proceedings in those cases and the lack of specialisation among family judges. Taking these difficulties into consideration, in 2018 the Polish Parliament introduced a reform aimed at improving the effectiveness of the court proceedings for the return of abducted children. The work on the amendment of the Polish legal regulations was carried out in parallel to the EU legislative process in the field of international child abduction. Although the Polish reform had been introduced before Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 of 25 June 2019 (Brussels IIb) was adopted, the 2016 proposal for this Regulation had been known to the national legislature. When discussing the amended Polish legal regulations, it should be considered whether they meet their goals and whether they are in line with the new EU law.

Автор исследует проблему квалификации юридических понятий коллизионной нормы. Цель исследования — осветить три основных подхода к решению проблемы квалификации: квалификация по lex fori, квалификация по lex causae и автономная квалификация на основе анализа отечественной и иностранной доктрины, законодательства и судебной практики. [---]

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

The paper starts from the assumption that there is a body of case-law on the German, the European Union (EU) level, and on the international level that is characterised by strategies of judicial avoidance. Courts for various reasons sometimes avoid deciding the substantive legal issues advanced by the parties to a conflict or put before them as a legal question in advisory-proceedings. The phenomenon is multifaceted. It can be observed in different legal contexts, in different countries, and branches of the law. From this perspective judicial avoidance is an important, yet scholarly neglected, element of judicial practice. As the paper demonstrates, it can be detected and categorised by employing the analytical tools of rhetorical science. This namely involves insights resulting from rhetorical research on ‘avoidance strategies’ in various forms of human and organisational communication. The central hypothesis of this paper therefore is that courts can be found to employ a sophisticated toolkit of classical rhetorical practices in order to avoid in their decision a ruling on focal legal issues of a dispute. [---]

This paper delves into influence of the internet on international law and global governance, a phenomenon that increased incrementally over the last decade before the COVID-19 emergency precipitated it. It posits that the digital world birthed whole new ‘territories’ where the practice of states and other actors is recorded and displayed, but it also exists independently from the physical realm. With respect to law-making, the internet acts as both a sounding board for, and an originator of, international practice. New technologies and social networks have also certainly increased the availability of information to governments and the public regarding violations of international norms. Yet, they have created a new – online – environment in which internationally wrongful acts can be committed. This further qualifies, yet does not make less significant, the relevance of the internet for the implementation of international law. [---]

The rise of internet and social media has changed, amongst others, international politics and international relations, putting the rules of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations under a stress test. The present work wishes to contribute to the current scholarly debate on whether already existing traditional rules of diplomatic law can easily be adapted to a post-modern world. More in detail, it will be dwelled if and to what extent diplomatic privileges and immunities conceived for an ‘in person’ diplomacy can be applied to ‘eDiplomacy’ as well. The proper identification of notions such as ‘premises’, ‘archives’, or ‘correspondence’ are currently under debate, as is the regime of protection of diplomatic premises in cases of cyber-crimes. Additionally, at current times, it seems the most prominent issue relates to the possibility to use in court diplomatic protected documents illegally obtained. Under the 1961 Vienna Convention, it remains unclear whether an unlawfully obtained diplomatic cable is always inadmissible. More straightforward seem to be other issues of eDiplomacy, either because the existing legal framework appears sufficiently flexible to be interpreted in such a way as to cope with eDiplomacy, or because international diplomatic law is not applicable to such new scenarios, leaving the door open for States to elaborate original solutions, if they deem it opportune.

Using Stanley Fish’s description of interpretive communities, this paper examines the impact of Social Media as an additional tool in international law scholarship. On the one hand, it might work against Western-centrism as debates could become more open and accessible for academics from different backgrounds and regions. On the other hand, there is a real risk that some of the downsides we may observe in political online debates – polarisation and a decline of basic decency – could also extend to the academic realm. It is about time to ask ourselves whether and how we can ensure that the benefits outweigh the costs. The following article is divided into two main parts: The first will refer to Stanley Fish’s notion of ‘interpretive communities’ to outline how Social Media may influence the pre-existing special and distinctive features of international law scholarship. The second, then, will show how the benefits of blogging and tweeting outweigh justified worries: Social Media increases participation in and readership of international law-related debates and allows qualified commentary to be published (almost) instantly.

Moral damages under international investment law have been extensively addressed in the literature. Notoriously, arbitral tribunals have subjected any claim for moral damages to a requirement unknown to general international law, that is exceptional circumstances. This practice is widely criticised in the field mainly due to the seeming inconsistency with general international law. This article challenges this view by arguing that a deviation from general international law does not – in and of itself – suffice to discard the tribunals’ approach. This argument is based on the insight that general international law only deals with inter-State responsibility and is, thus, open to deviations from general international law in case of State responsibility vis-à-vis the individual. On that basis, the article explores possible legal bases for exceptional circumstances in international law. While it discards the idea that such a requirement for awarding moral damages is implicit in prior inter-State cases, the article rather argues that the arbitral practice witnesses the emergence of a new rule of customary international law applicable to the responsibility of a State vis-à-vis the individual. Thereby, the article seeks to contribute to the wider debate on the content and contours of State responsibility for claims of the individual.

Internet integrity encompassing the security, stability, robustness, and resilience of the most widely used global infrastructure has become a key topic of governance debates. The early emphatic cyberspace pronouncements volatilised; in addition, network security influence interests and national Internet policies increasingly jeopardize the global normative order. Since multilateral treaties are hardly suitable to realize an open space, international legal concepts, particularly the concept of global public goods, of shared spaces, and of State responsibility, merit to be applied on a wider scale. Thereby, a bridge should be built between Internet governance principles and public international law.

This paper argues that the utopia of a borderless and interconnected cyberspace loses its charm and the global cyber order is witnessing a territorial turn. The proliferation of the notion of cyber sovereignty and its variances is a symptom reflecting sovereign states’ attempt to retain autonomy and control gradually eroded with the digitalisation of societies and economies. The sovereignty fever can be attributed to four reasons: political ambition, economic value, security concerns, and human rights. However, sovereignty is not the last word in debates concerning the future of digital society, for even liberal democracies have advanced ideas of technological or digital sovereignty, and data sovereignty, for their own very different purposes.

В статье дана характеристика международного судебного толкования международного договора как самостоятельного вида международной интерпретационной деятельности. Практика толкования международного договора насчитывает несколько тысячелетий, доктрина толкования международного договора начинает формироваться в XVII – XVIII вв. Во второй половине XX в. положения о толковании были кодифицированы в Венской конвенции о праве международных договоров. Договорная легитимация правил толкования не устранила доктринальные дискуссии о сфере ее применения, международно-правовой природе данных правил, перечне субъектов толкования международного договора. [---]

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

Die Wahl zum 20. Deutschen Bundestag am 26.9.2021 hat in mehrfacher Hinsicht die Reformbedürftigkeit des deutschen Wahlrechts erwiesen. Nachfolgend wird aufgezeigt, welche verfassungskonformen Möglichkeiten für sinnvolle Veränderungen bestehen.

Der Gedanke, Grundrechte sollten auch die Existenz bestimmter (privat)rechtlicher Institute sichern, wird bald 100 Jahre alt. Er stammt aus der Zeit der Weimarer Republik. Der folgende Beitrag fragt nach dem Sinn grundrechtlicher Institutsgarantien heute und plädiert für deren Verabschiedung.

Der Staat schützt „auch in Verantwortung für die künftigen Generationen die natürlichen Lebensgrundlagen“ (Art. 20a GG). Hat der Gesetzgeber diese Pflicht verletzt, kann hiergegen Verfassungsbeschwerde erhoben werden. Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hat mit Beschluss vom 24. März 2021 das Klimaschutzgesetz vom 12. Dezember 2019 für grundgesetzwidrig angesehen und den Gesetzgeber zur Nachbesserung verurteilt.

Das Zusammenspiel nachrichtendienstrechtlicher Ermächtigungsgrundlagen mit Vorschriften des Gefahrenabwehrrechts und des Strafrechts verursacht mitunter problematische Verständnisschwierigkeiten. Vor diesem Hintergrund versucht dieser Beitrag, die unterschiedlichen Rechtsgebiete systematisch miteinander in Einklang zu bringen. Dabei steht das Prinzip der Einheit der Rechtsordnung im Mittelpunkt.

Lakien perustuslainmukaisuuden valvonta on Suomen oikeusjärjestelmässä keskitetty pääasiassa eduskunnan perustuslakivaliokunnalle (jäljempänä myös PeV) ja valiokunnan tehtävästä on säädetty perustuslaissa (731/1999, PeL 74 §). Suomalainen ennakollinen perustuslakikontrolli on ainutlaatuinen ja sen toiminta perustuu ennen kaikkea valiokunnan jäsenten ja ulkopuolisten asiantuntijoiden varaan. Tässä artikkelissa keskitytään PeV:n valiokuntaneuvosten tosiasialliseen rooliin perustuslainmukaisuuden valvontajärjestelmässä kiinnittämällä huomion erityisesti neuvosten tehtäviin ja asemaan perustuslakivaliokunnassa. Artikkeli perustuu laajaan haastatteluaineistoon. Haastateltavina olivat perustuslakivaliokunnan eri toimijat (valiokuntaneuvokset, jäsenistö ja asiantuntijat).

Der Klimabeschluss des Bundesverfassungsgerichts vom 24. März 2021 verlangt die Erfüllung des Klimaschutzgebots aus Art. 20a GG auch mit Blick auf die künftigen Generationen, um deren dafür notwendige Freiheitsbeeinträchtigungen grundrechtsschonend zu bewältigen. Aus diesem freiheitsrechtlichen Ansatz folgert das Bundesverfassungsgericht eine Verletzung der Grundrechte der jungen Beschwerdeführenden durch § 3 Abs. 1 Satz 2, § 4 Abs. 1 Satz 3 Bundes-Klimaschutzgesetz (KSG) i.V.m. Anlage 2 und verneint eine solche aus den grundrechtlichen Schutzpflichten – zu Recht? Inwieweit verlangen die grundrechtlichen Schutzpflichten eine umfassende subjektive Einforderbarkeit jedenfalls eines ökologischen Existenzminimums als Klimagrundrecht – zumal nach dem Jahrhunderthochwasser vom Juli 2021? Welche Rolle spielt die vom Bundesverfassungsgericht gänzlich ausgeblendete EU-Ebene?

Das Grundgesetz verpflichtet den Deutschen Bundestag in Art. 40 Abs. 1 Satz 2, sich eine Geschäftsordnung zu geben. Dieser Verfassungsauftrag ist Ausdruck der Parlamentsautonomie. Das Parlament soll seine eigenen Angelegenheiten selbst und ohne Einfluss Dritter, insbesondere anderer Verfassungsorgane regeln. Materielles Geschäftsordnungsrecht darf daher nur unter engen Voraussetzungen in Gesetzesform geregelt werden. Dem Deutschen Bundestag steht keine völlig freie Formenwahl zu – auch nicht bei der Mitwirkung in auswärtigen Angelegenheiten.

Pandemien – wie andere Katastrophen – sind Herausforderungen an Staat und Gesellschaft. Sie erhöhen die Erwartungen der Menschen an den Staat, seine Entscheidungs-, Handlungs-, Leistungsfähigkeit und seinen Legitimationsbedarf. Und sie erhöhen die Erwartungen des Staates an die Menschen, ihre Bereitschaft zur Selbsthilfe, ihre Normbefolgung sowie ihre Bereitschaft zur Legitimation der öffentlichen Gewalt. Insoweit sind sie Herausforderung und Bewährungsprobe für grundlegende Rechtsprinzipien. Diese sind im Notfall nicht einfach suspendiert, doch können sich ihre Anwendungs- und Auslegungsbedingungen verändern. Bislang unterbelichtete Fragestellungen werden erkennbar, bislang kaum ausgeleuchtete Verfassungsnormen anwendbar. Sie stellen neue Herausforderungen an Verfassungspraxis und Verfassungsauslegung. Dies soll hier am Beispiel der Demokratie erörtert werden.

Im Jahr 2018 hat das Bundesverfassungsgericht die Beschränkung der gerichtlichen Kontrolle für den Fall zugelassen, dass es für die Beurteilung einer streitgegenständlichen Fachfrage an ausreichend gefestigten fachwissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen fehlt. In der rechtswissenschaftlichen Diskussion ist die epistemologische Dimension dieser Entscheidung weitgehend außer Betracht geblieben. Die komplexen Herausforderungen der modernen Wissensgesellschaft geben aber Anlass, die Probleme des Eingangs von Wissen in den Rechtsvollzug näher zu beleuchten. Der Beitrag zeigt, inwiefern die Auseinandersetzung mit Wissensfragen leitend sein kann für die Lösung rechtlicher Problemstellungen, konkret für die Bestimmung des Umfanges der gerichtlichen Kontrolldichte.

In den Szenarien der COVID-19-Pandemie hat sich Taiwan den Ruf eines Musterlandes erworben. Nicht ohne Grund. Denn Taiwan ist es gelungen, ohne Rückgriff auf das in seiner Verfassung bereitgestellte Notverordnungsrecht die Auswirkungen des Virus im weltweiten Vergleich relativ gering zu halten. Der bislang günstige Verlauf geht u. a. auf gesetzliche Modifikationen der Verwaltungsorganisation und der für die Krisenbewältigung erweiterten Befugnisse der Verwaltung zurück. Doch sind diese Modifikationen nicht durchgängig unproblematisch. Hier setzt der Beitrag an: Nach einer Analyse des taiwanesischen Ausnahmeverfassungsrechts stellt er die Organisation und die Befugnisausstattung des taiwanesischen Corona-Managements auf den Prüfstand demokratisch-rechtsstaatlicher Verfassungsmaximen.

This article examines the relationship between natural law and Irish law held by constitutional drafters, academic commentators and judges in the early twentieth century. References to natural law values in interpreting Irish law were not acceptable before 1922 when the entire island of Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom. The emergence of the self-governing Irish Free State in 1922 did not immediately change this position and natural law was limited to a peripheral position during the drafting of the first Irish Constitution. This article examines how and why the use of natural law by the Irish courts became increasingly acceptable by the middle of the twentieth century. It will also examine the connection between the drafting of the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State and the 1934 judgment of the Supreme Court in State (Ryan) v Lennon. This provides a new perspective on the judgments delivered in this case and on the origins of the use of natural law in interpreting Irish constitutional law. The article will also examine the legacy of State (Ryan) v Lennon, the position of natural law in the 1937 Irish Constitution and the evolving position of natural law in the decades that followed.

This article investigates the development of national litigation against the Czech Republic's governmental policy to detain asylum seekers under the Dublin III Regulation, as a means to address the so-called refugee crisis. The outcome of this litigation has been the preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Al Chodor case, which has been praised for enhancing domestic standards of protection of asylum seekers and returnees' right to liberty across the EU. The article demonstrates that this preliminary ruling has been a catalyst for domestic legislative and jurisprudential reforms across the EU, improving to a certain extent the protection of the right to liberty of asylum seekers. However, it is argued that in the Czech Republic the case has not initiated a change in the legislation, nor has it reduced the systematic use of asylum detention. The article identifies some important legal, political and social factors from within and beyond courtrooms that have contributed to this ambiguous outcome of the Czech litigation. It concludes by identifying circumstances that need to be taken into account when using the preliminary reference procedure as a tool for strategic litigation.

Bei Zeugenvernehmungen durch parlamentarische Untersuchungsausschüsse kommt es häufig zum Streit darüber, ob der Zeuge eine bestimmte Frage beantworten muss. Gestritten wird darum, ob sie noch vom Untersuchungsgegenstand umfasst ist, ob sie sich im Rahmen der Aussagegenehmigung bewegt oder ob der Zeuge die Antwort unter Hinweis auf eine strafrechtliche Verfolgungsgefahr verweigern darf. Der Beitrag schildert die Antwortverweigerungsrechte sowie die Sanktionsmöglichkeiten.

Der Beitrag schildert, unter welchen Voraussetzungen Nachrichtendienste ihr „Geheimwissen“ vor parlamentarischen Untersuchungsausschüssen offenbaren müssen. Nachrichtendienstliches Wissen ist in den vergangenen anderthalb Jahrzehnten verstärkt in den Fokus parlamentarischen Aufklärungsinteresses geraten. Beispielsweise in den Untersuchungsausschüssen des Bundestages zu den Komplexen Amri, NSA, NSU und BND. Im Lichte der verfassungs- und verwaltungsgerichtlichen Rechtsprechung beschreibt der Artikel die Offenbarungspflichten und Schutzmöglichkeiten dieser „Geheimnisse“. Es geht um den Schutz von verdeckten Quellen, nachrichtendienstlichen Erkenntnissen, Arbeitsmethoden und Identitäten der „hauptamtlich“ Beschäftigten.

Lange war unklar, welche Eingriffshürden von Verfassungs wegen für nachrichtendienstliches Handeln gelten. Es existierten zwar vereinzelte verfassungsrechtliche Judikate, die sich mit dieser Frage auseinandersetzten, eine Systematik war hingegen nur schwerlich zu erkennen. In der Bestandsdatenauskunft II-Entscheidung wie schon zuvor in der BKAG-Entscheidung hat das BVerfG nun Maßstäbe für sicherheitsbehördliche Überwachungsmaßnahmen aufgestellt; wenngleich sie nicht stets widerspruchsfrei sind. Dieser Beitrag entwickelt anhand dieser und weiterer Entscheidungen zu präventiven Datenerhebungsbefugnissen eine Formel für eine verfassungsrechtlich gebotene Eingriffshürde für nachrichtendienstliches Handeln. Die hier vorgeschlagene Formel versteht sich als einen ersten Aufschlag, der zu einem weiteren Diskurs einladen möchte.

Um gezielten Zugang zum Recht zu erreichen, breitet sich in Deutschland die Rechtspraxis der strategischen Prozessführung immer weiter aus. Hierdurch streben zivilgesellschaftliche Akteure einen strategischen gerichtlichen Zugang an, der insbesondere in Fällen mit Auslandsbezug und bezüglich völkerrechtlicher Argumente bemerkenswert ist. Dieses Phänomen lässt sich als Zuflucht zu den Gerichten mit rechtspolitischen Zielen und mithilfe eines gezielten Rückgriffs auf rechtliche Instrumentarien beschreiben. Damit stellen sich Herausforderungen für die Rolle der Judikative und darüber hinaus für die Rechtsordnung als solche. In diesem Zusammenhang eröffnen sich jedoch auch Potenziale für den Rechtsschutz und für den Rechtszugang insgesamt.

Werden im Rahmen der europäischen Integration Hoheitsrechte übertragen, müssen Bundestag und Bundesrat dem durch Gesetz zustimmen – nach Art. 23 Art. I 2 GG mit einfacher Mehrheit, unter den Voraussetzungen des Satzes 3 mit Zwei-Drittel-Mehrheit. In einer grundlegenden Entscheidung zur Errichtung eines „einheitlichen“ länderübergreifenden Patentgerichts hat das BVerfG erstmals zum umstrittenen Verhältnis zwischen Satz 2 und Satz 3 Stellung genommen. [---]

Анализ практики функционирования парламента Италии в условиях пандемии COVID-19 позволил выявить правовые инструменты, при помощи которых представительному органу удалось адаптироваться к новым условиям и обеспечить осуществление парламентских процедур без внесения изменений в регламенты палат, рассмотреть, какое воздействие режим длящейся чрезвычайной ситуации и локдаун оказали на реализацию законодательных и контрольных полномочий парламента, показать, какие подходы предлагаются в доктрине для решения выявленных проблем.

Ever since the adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the EU seems committed to explore and expand its social dimension to deliver a decent standard of living to the European society. This new endeavour gives rise to a number of questions, not least regarding how the notion of a standard of living that is compatible with a life in dignity ought to be interpreted and what the obligations of Member States are in this quest. The aim of this contribution is precisely to shed some light on these questions. To this end, the article looks into how different (quasi)judicial bodies have interpreted fundamental rights that entitle individuals to minimum subsistence resources that are deemed to achieve a standard of living that is compatible with the right to human dignity. In particular, it analyses how the ECJ, the ECtHR and the ECSR have interpreted (minimum) living standards through different fundamental rights. It then suggests a number of ‘learning points’ for the ECJ to draw from the experience of the other two bodies and emphasizes the need for building solid bridges between the three.

Современная цифровая экономика в своем развитии сталкивается с многочисленными проблемами и вызовами. Они отражаются на всех сферах жизни общества, в том числе на социальной, которая в значительной степени привязана к экономике и зависит от наполнения бюджета. Происходящие под влиянием цифровых технологий преобразования в социальной сфере расширяют ее возможности и в то же время создают угрозу нарушения прав граждан из-за несовершенств работы информационных систем, технических сбоев программ, необеспечения надлежащей защиты информации и персональных данных. Таким образом, законодательство о социальном обеспечении с учетом новых тенденций должно делать основной упор на гарантии прав и законных интересов граждан. В такой процесс должны быть вовлечены все субъекты хозяйственной деятельности, включая тех, кто пока еще не охвачен системой обязательного социального страхования (самозанятые, лица творческих профессий – фрилансеры, неформально занятые граждане и т. п.).

The summa divisio between the person and the thing lies, traditionally, at the
very basis of European private law. In a growing number of European jurisdictions
however, provisions have been introduced in the Civil Code that differentiate between animals and other legal things or objects. Even though it is certain that these provisions do not vest animals with a form of legal personality similar to that of humans or corporations, it has been noted that the new legal status may influence the way animals are being addressed in other areas of private law and can sometimes even be construed as limiting the rights of persons. Perceived as such, the special status of the animal challenges the traditional dichotomy between the person and the thing, giving rise to a category that lies in between. This article aims to shed light on the changing status of the animal in private law in continental Europe. The Civil Code provisions differentiating between animals and other things or goods of France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands are compared to show how the development manifests itself differently in different legal cultures. [---]

Am 22.7.2021 wurde das Gesetz zur Vereinheitlichung des Stiftungsrechts verkündet. Dies ist ein deutlicher Fortschritt für das Stiftungswesen. Das bislang im BGB und in 16 Landesstiftungsgesetzen enthaltene Stiftungszivilrecht wird im BGB zusammengeführt. Die bislang bestehende Rechtsunsicherheit, inwiefern einzelne Regelungen der Landesstiftungsgesetze wegen Verstoßes gegen die Vorgaben des BGB möglicherweise nichtig sind, wird hierdurch beseitigt. Zudem wird sich die bisher unterschiedliche Anwendung des Stiftungsrechts durch die einzelnen Aufsichtsbehörden deutlich verbessern. Hinzu kommt, dass zum 1.1.2026 endlich ein Stiftungsregister eingeführt wird. Sowohl für bestehende als auch für ab jetzt neu errichtete Stiftungen entfaltet das geänderte Recht bereits jetzt erhebliche Wirkung.

Although a number of European Union legal documents require AI to be transparent, this is frequently not the case. Such opacity can be attributed to a diverse range of causes, ranging from so called ‘black box’ algorithms, trade secrets and patents, to the cognitive barriers of non-professionals. Transparency, in contrast, is, in many cases, indispensable for establishing generic or specific causation in deciding civil law cases, especially within the scope of contractual or tort liability. Therefore, the concept of causation applied in various parts of civil law should be rethought, and some remedies for this problem should be adopted.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

The legal concept of the employer plays an increasingly important and contested role in the modern economic context of broad-sweeping organizational fissuring. This article focuses on the role of employer concepts specifically in the collective bargaining domain, where they hold the unique potential to substantially affect access to regulated collective bargaining, its efficacy, and the extent of worker bargaining power. Building on a critical engagement with previous normative literature on fissuring and on the concept of the employer, the paper examines the interaction of fissuring and employer concepts in the context of the US and Canadian ‘Wagnerist’ collective bargaining regimes, and compares the trajectory of employer concept doctrine in each of these two countries in recent decades. The comparative analysis suggests that while employer concept reform within collective bargaining regimes remains constrained in important respects in both the US and Canada, these concepts have also recently diverged in important formal respects shaping their effects in fissured contexts. This divergence is comprised of a formal expansion of their scope in Canada; a narrowing of their scope in the US; and an effective inversion of the US joint employer concept consequentially into less of a remedial, and a more restrictive device. As a heuristic, comparison of US developments with those in its neighbour’s regime that has much else in common, help to highlight the extraordinarily restrictive nature of most recent US doctrine, including the 2020 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) final rule on joint employer status, its facilitation of fissuring, and the formidable task confronting US labour of somehow bringing lead firms into the regulated collective bargaining process.

Die Diskussion in der juristischen Literatur scheint mehrheitlich einig: In Deutschland darf der Zugang zum Arbeitsplatz nicht von der „3G-Regel“ (geimpft, genesen, getestet) abhängig gemacht werden, da dies zu einer indirekten Impf- oder Testpflicht der Arbeitnehmer führen könnte. Gleichzeitig sind es jedoch nicht nur Arbeitgeber, sondern auch viele Arbeitnehmer leid, seit eineinhalb Jahren auf jedes Sozialleben im Betrieb verzichten zu müssen. Sie verstehen nicht, warum im Betrieb ausgeschlossen sein soll, was in jeder Gaststätte praktiziert wird. Deshalb soll dieser Beitrag aufzeigen, dass „3G“ vielleicht doch in deutschen Betrieben möglich ist.

Vammaisten henkilöiden oikeuksia koskeva yleissopimuksen 27 artiklan 1 kohta korostaa vammaisen ihmisen oikeutta osallistua yhteiskuntaan tekemällä työtä ja ansaitsemalla toimeentulonsa itse. Yleissopimus on voimassa 182 valtiossa ja Euroopan unionissa unionin oikeuden alalla. Yleissopimuksen tulkintaperiaatteet ohjaavat sitä, miten kansallisia ja eurooppalaisia yhdenvertaisuusoikeuksia sekä työelämää koskevaa lainsäädäntöä on tulkittava. Erityisen tärkeitä tässä suhteessa ovat yhdenvertaisuuslaki (1342/2014), työturvallisuuslaki (738/2002), työsopimuslaki (2001/55) ja työsyrjintädirektiivi. Artikkelissa analysoidaan, millä tavoin vammaisten henkilöiden oikeuksien yleissopimuksen tavoite sosiaalisesta osallisuudesta vaikuttaa työlainsäädännön tulkintaan silloin, kun on kyse vammaisen työntekijän työn tekemisen edellytyksistä ja työstä suoriutumisesta. Artikkelissa huomioidaan yksityisoikeudellisten sopimusten näkökulma, vaikka sosiaalisen osallisuuden esteiden poistaminen on ensisijaisesti julkisen vallan velvollisuus.

Ulkomaisten työntekijöiden heikot työehdot ja -olosuhteet esimerkiksi ravintola-, rakennus-, marjanpoiminta- ja siivousalalla sekä maatalouden kausityössäovat nousseet Suomessa toistuvasti julkisen keskustelun kohteeksi viime vuosina. Ulkomaisten työntekijöiden hyväksikäytön ehkäisemiseksi on käynnistetty myös virallisia toimia, esimerkiksi perustettu työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön alainen työryhmä, jonka on määrä saada ehdotuksensa valmiiksi vuoden 2021 loppuun mennessä, julkaistu ihmiskaupan vastainen toimintaohjelma ja annettu hallituksen esitys hyväksikäytön kohteeksi joutuneen työntekijän työnteko-oikeutta koskevien säännösten uudistamiseksi. Kyse on siis sekä käytännön työelämän kannalta että oikeudellisesti erittäin tärkeästä ja ajankohtaisesta kysymyksestä. Kyse on aihealueesta, jossa yhdistyvät rikosoikeudelliset, ulkomaalaisoikeudelliset ja työoikeudelliset näkökohdat ja kysymykset. Artikkelissa tarkastellaan nykysääntelyn lähtökohtia ja säännösten soveltamiseen liittyviä haasteita sekä sitä, missä määrin esitetyt muutokset mahdollisesti vastaisivat näihin haasteisiin.

Dass der Flexibilisierungs- und Digitalisierungsschub, den die Corona-Pandemie der Arbeitswelt gebracht hat, Bestand haben wird, gilt inzwischen als ausgemacht. Was aber folgt ganz allgemein aus der Viruskrise für die Gestaltung der Arbeit durch das Arbeitsrecht? Der Beitrag geht dieser Frage unter der Prämisse nach, dass der Gesetzgeber Handeln steuern will, und untersucht dabei unter Berücksichtigung der legislativen Erfahrungen aus der Pandemie die unterschiedliche Wirksamkeit von Zwang, Anreizen und Appellen, über die während Corona vor allem auch im Arbeitsrecht diskutiert wurde.

Развитие генетических технологий в последние десятилетия привело к тому, что с помощью анализа генетических данных человека можно получить достаточно обширную информацию о предрасположенности их носителя к наследственным заболеваниям, способностям в отношении выполнения той или иной работы или устойчивости работника к определенным типам нагрузок. В обществе стали распространяться опасения, что носители «некачественных» геномов окажутся жертвами дискриминации и будут восприниматься работодателями и страховыми компаниями как неполноценные люди, которых можно ограничивать в правах. [---]

The scope of consumer protection according to both written and unwritten law is assessed through an analysis of court decisions and decisions of the Consumer Complaints Board in Danish law with references to other Scandinavian law and to EU case law. The article analyses consumer protection in Scandinavian contract law according to general principles of interpretation and statutory law in the form of national legislation implementing Article 5 of Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts. The so-called (larger) general clause of invalidity in the form of section 36 of the relevant national Contracts Acts is included as it greatly influences interpretation in Scandinavian contract law. The analysis involves a discussion of interpretation as a legal source in Scandinavian contract law, and a presentation of the Scandinavian consumer complaints board system with an emphasis on the Danish system. It is argued that the (traditional) general principles of interpretation in contract law play an important role as a supplement to written law in the aim of consumer protection, and that both courts and the Consumer Complaints Boards seem to operate with protection of consumers as a relevant underlying legal basis when interpreting consumer contracts. Both general rules of interpretation and the underlying legal basis (in the form of i.a. non-mandatory rules and customs) thereby seem to enhance consumer protection in Scandinavian contract law.

This contribution discusses the first instance decision of the Netherlands Commercial Court between Subsea Survey Solutions LLC and South Stream Transport BV from an English and Dutch law perspective. The principal issue before the court concerned the interpretation of Clause 7 of the Settlement Agreement entered into between the parties and in particular whether or not this release and discharge clause provided South Stream with a defence to the claim which had been brought against it. This contribution discusses in a comparative way the principles of English and Dutch law which govern the interpretation of contracts. The conclusion is that the gap between the English and Dutch approach in relation to contract interpretation, although different in form, does not seem to be as broad as believed by many.

Mit den §§ 312 I a BGB nF und 327 III BGB nF hat der Gesetzgeber zwei Vorschriften eingeführt, die erstmals explizit regeln, dass dem Verbraucher, der mit personenbezogenen Daten bezahlt, im Grundsatz die gleichen Rechte zustehen wie demjenigen, der herkömmlich mit Geld bezahlt. Die Regelungen sind insgesamt zu begrüßen, erkennen sie doch an, dass auch personenbezogenen Daten im Wirtschaftsleben heute ein hoher Wert zukommen kann. Da die Ausübung von datenschutzrechtlichen Erklärungen des Verbrauchers keinen Einfluss auf die Wirksamkeit des Vertragsverhältnisses haben soll, führen sie zu einer Einschränkung der Privatautonomie des Unternehmers, die allerdings aufgrund des informationellen Selbstbestimmungsrechts geboten ist.

The valid choice of a (foreign) governing law in commercial contracts presupposes, pursuant to EU private international law, a genuine international element to the transaction in question. Given that the underlying rationale of this requirement stipulated in Article 3(3) of the Rome I Regulation has yet to be fully explored, the normative foundations as to the properties that a genuine international element must possess remain unsettled. The particularly low threshold applied by more recent English case law in favour of almost unfettered party autonomy in choice of law at first glance avoids legal uncertainty. However, such a liberal interpretation not only robs Article 3(3) Rome I Regulation almost entirely of its meaning but also appears to be rooted in a basic misunderstanding of both the function and rationale of Article 3(3) Rome I Regulation in the overall system of EU private international law. Consequently, legal tensions with courts based in EU member states maintaining a more restrictive approach may become inevitable in the future due to Brexit.

The Severe Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) pandemic has dealt a universal challenge to contractual performance, but legal systems have responded differently. In this article, we focus on two jurisdictions with distinct paths of development – England and France – to examine if they have drawn from their own legal history to craft solutions to this challenge and to consider if either has bettersuited tools to address it. Notably, the UK has refrained from intervening in the area of contract law, thus relying on long-standing common law doctrines and equitable remedies, while, in France, the government has intervened with a series of ordonnances providing contracting parties with new tools tackling difficulties of performance, which add to the existing arsenal in the Code civil. The article demonstrates that the responses to the COVID-19 challenge by England and France have historic roots and illustrate important legal cultural differences vis-à vis state intervention in the area of contract in trying times. Moreover, even though, at first glance, parties contracting under French law have more tools balancing freedom of contract and fairness, a closer look reveals that over protection or under protection may lead to the same outcome for contractual relationships on both sides of the Channel. Ultimately, in both countries, parties seem better off settling their disputes themselves, away from the courts.

This special issue is limited to cases of legal ignorance in the fields of contract law, tort law and civil procedure. This limitation is justified by both principled and practical considerations. Contract law was included in the project because the new approach to legal ignorance sketched above pertains to the field of contract law. To include tort law – as part of the law of obligations – was a logical next step. Moreover, the open-ended structure of tort law gives judges ample opportunity to weigh all the facts of the case at hand. Since statutes of limitation are typically unknown to lay persons, this part of civil procedural law (in some countries, these are part of substantive law) had to be included as well. [---] The number of jurisdictions that has been investigated is also limited. The focus is on eight Western European jurisdictions that are relatively similar both culturally and economically. It would certainly be interesting to conduct a similar analysis in Eastern European countries and to compare the findings thereof with the results of the present research, but that is for another project.

Статья посвящена исследованию действия конституционного принципа свободы договора на договорные отношения энергосбытовых организаций и потребителей электрической энергии на розничных рынках электроэнергии. Рассмотрены доктринальные подходы к пониманию конституционных принципов, их соотношению и взаимному влиянию, являющиеся основой изучения поставленного в исследовании вопроса. Выводы авторов строятся на анализе: законодательства об электроэнергетике, в части регулирования правоотношений на розничных рынках электроэнергии; режимов деятельности энергосбытовых организаций; конструктивных особенностей договоров энергоснабжения и купли-продажи электроэнергии; императивных положений законодательства об электроэнергетике в договорных правоотношениях, во взаимосвязи с доктринальными подходами к реализации принципа свободы договора. [---]

Die Gesellschafterliste in der GmbH provoziert am laufenden Band neue Entscheidungen des BGH, die im Ergebnis teilweise richtig, teilweise falsch sind. Das Schrifttum begleitet die Fülle dieser Urteile mit Applaus oder Buh-Rufen, ohne der Praxis den dringend benötigten Kompass anzubieten. Der Verfasser legt dar, dass es „immer Ärger mit der Gesellschafterliste“ gibt, weil Rechtsprechung und Lehre die Dogmatik der Gesellschafterliste nicht zutreffend erfassen.

Am 17.8.2021 ist das Personengesellschaftsrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz (MoPeG) im Bundesgesetzblatt verkündet worden. Neben der Einführung eines Registers für BGB-Gesellschaften und der Öffnung von Handelsgesellschaften für Freiberufler bringt es zahlreiche weitere Änderungen. Die Reform wird erst am 1.1.2024 in Kraft treten, doch die Praxis ist gut beraten, sich schon jetzt mit den wichtigsten Änderungen vertraut zu machen. Der Beitrag stellt sie vor.

In this article, the need for the adoption of trusts into civilian jurisdictions has been analysed by placing a special focus on commercial trusts. It has been argued that, the trust may offer an added value for these legal systems as it is more advantageous in terms of asset management, investment and financing purposes. In the context of asset management and investment, the trust is compared with the fiduciary contract and even though both legal instruments serve the purpose of separating management and beneficial ownership; it has been concluded that the trust fulfils this function more successfully thanks to both the property dimension and the obligation dimension that are incorporated into it. In the context of traditional financing, the advantage of the trust manifests itself in case of multi-source financing – more clearly, in case of loans acquired by multiple lenders. Here, the added value of the trust is apparent with regard to the composition of common security packages, which constitutes a significant advantage from various perspectives for both borrowers and creditors.

Australian Consumer Law provides for consumer guarantees, according to which the taking of a particular action (for example, the application of due care and skill) or the presence of a particular fact (for example, a particular quality) is deemed as guaranteed where goods or services are supplied to a consumer in certain circumstances. Remedies lie against the supplier or (where goods are supplied) against the manufacturer or both. Pursuant to its application provisions, Australian Consumer Law applies to conduct outside Australia if one of several alternative criteria is satisfied. One criterion is that the defendant carried on business within Australia. There is no express requirement that the defendant's business activities in Australia include the transaction with the plaintiff. This article argues that comity requires an implied restriction on the territorial scope of the consumer guarantee provisions, and searches for the most appropriate criterion for that purpose.

Uudet talouden muodot ja ilmiöt – kuten jakamistalous – häiriköivät ja aiheuttavat vakiintuneilla oikeudenaloilla ja yhteiskuntasektoreilla uudenlaisia tulkinta- ja soveltamishaasteita. Maankäyttö- ja rakennuslain (132/1999, MRL) asuinhuoneiston käyttöä sääntelevän normiston kannalta kysymys on MRL 125.5 §:n käyttötarkoitussääntelyn soveltamisesta uuteen ilmiöön – asuinhuoneistojen tarjoamiseen lyhytaikaiskäyttöön. Lyhytaikaisvuokraus tai vertaismajoitus on sallittua, mikäli asuinhuoneiston käyttötarkoitus ei muutu olennaisesti MRL 125.5 §:ssa säädetyllä tavalla. Tässä artikkelissa esitetään, ettei voimassa oleva oikeus täysin tunnista lyhytaikaisvuokrauksen tai yksityishenkilöltä toiselle tapahtuvaa vertaismajoittamisen (peer-to-peer accommodation) ilmiötä: oikeusjärjestyksen ilmentämä käsitys asuinhuoneistojen käytöstä ja käyttötavoista ei vastaa jakamistalouden uusia toimijuuksia. Tutkimustehtävänä on MRL:n käyttötarkoitussääntelyn kontekstissa hahmotella oikeudellisen tulkinnan analyysimalli tai tulkintaoppi, jolla voitaisiin hallita uuden ilmiön ja oikeudellisten käsitteellistyksien välistä etääntymistä. Ensimmäisenä tutkimuskysymyksenä on selvittää, mistä jakamistalouden ja MRL:n käsitteistön yhteensovitushaasteessa tai etääntymisestä on oikeastaan kysymys. Tavoitteena on tältä osin havainnollistaa, miksi uusille oikeudellisille arviointivälineille on tarvetta uusien ilmiöiden kuten jakamistalouden tarkastelussa. [---]

After a long period of economic and legal transition, new institutions emerged in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Firms facing financial difficulties must cope with the quality of those institutions. This study investigates the association between the institutional environment and a firm’s recovery from financial distress. Our analysis relies on a sample of 823 CEE listed firms subject to financial difficulties over the period from 2004 to 2017. After controlling for the endogeneity of institutional quality and financial features, dynamic panel estimates confirm that increased anticorruption efforts contributed to restoring the financial health of CEE firms. By reducing costs resulting from bribes and bureaucracy, efficient anticorruption mechanisms can facilitate firm efforts to overcome financial distress. In addition, several CEE countries created anticorruption agencies, mainly prior to the financial crisis or at the beginning of the postcrisis period. This may partially explain why anticorruption institutions were able to produce positive externalities. The development and independence of such agencies should be highly encouraged in CEE, as financially distressed firms may benefit from anticorruption policies.

The doctrine of renvoi is rightly described as “a subject loved by academics, hated by students and ignored (when noticed) by practising lawyers (including judges)”. This article argues that the students have much the better of the argument. English commercial law has rightly rejected renvoi as a general rule, because it multiplies the expense and complexity of proceedings, while doing little to deter forum-shopping and enable enforcement. It should go even further to reject renvoi in questions of immovable property, because the special justification that this enables enforcement of English judgments against foreign land ignores the fact that title or possession of such land is generally not justiciable in English courts and such judgments will not be enforced irrespective of whether renvoi is applied.

The origin of the rule that an action of covenant required a deed is something of a mystery, although its consequences were of the greatest importance in the development of the common law. The most recent contribution to the debate has even doubted whether it was a rule of the action of covenant at all. The present article aims to cast as much light on this as possible given the surviving evidence. It restates the traditional view that it was indeed a rule of the action of covenant, dates its appearance, and tentatively suggests that it had may have had a legislative or quasi-legislative origin.

Tithe was a personal charge levied on the Christian community to support the church. From the twelfth century AD canon lawyers distinguished tithe raised from the more valuable product of the land, praedial tithe, from that due from other, less valuable sources, personal tithe. This generated a third, mixed category. The origin of the distinction was an attempt to prevent tithe being diverted from the parish to monasteries but as it became permanent it effectively changed both the juridical and practical nature of tithe. Although personal tithe remained due in principle, especially in England, it was always difficult to enforce.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

Epstein (Simple rules for a complex world, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1995) defended the superiority of simple legal rules over complex, human-designed regulations. Has Epstein’s case for simple rules become obsolete with the arrival of artificial intelligence, and in particular machine learning (ML)? Can ML deliver better algorithmic rules than traditional simple legal rules? This paper argues that the answer to these question is “no” by building an argument based on three increasingly more serious barriers that ML faces to develop legal (or quasi-legal) algorithmic rules: data availability, the Lucas’ critique, and incentive compatibility in eliciting information. Thus, the case for simple legal rules is still sound even in a world with ML.

This article examines the relationship between natural law and Irish law held by constitutional drafters, academic commentators and judges in the early twentieth century. References to natural law values in interpreting Irish law were not acceptable before 1922 when the entire island of Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom. The emergence of the self-governing Irish Free State in 1922 did not immediately change this position and natural law was limited to a peripheral position during the drafting of the first Irish Constitution. This article examines how and why the use of natural law by the Irish courts became increasingly acceptable by the middle of the twentieth century. It will also examine the connection between the drafting of the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State and the 1934 judgment of the Supreme Court in State (Ryan) v Lennon. This provides a new perspective on the judgments delivered in this case and on the origins of the use of natural law in interpreting Irish constitutional law. The article will also examine the legacy of State (Ryan) v Lennon, the position of natural law in the 1937 Irish Constitution and the evolving position of natural law in the decades that followed.

Covid-19-pandemian kurittaessa maailmaa olemme tottuneet pukemaan sanomisemme medikalisoivaan käsitteistöön. Tässä artikkelissa aloitetaan siis diagnoosin käsitteestä, ja lähtökohdaksi otetaan yhteiskuntatieteen niin sanotut aikalaisdiagnoosit (Zeitdiagnose) ja niiden suhde oikeustieteeseen.