This essay examines, from a legal and economic perspective, the judicial response to rent controls in the EU focusing on three courts that operate at the fundamental rights and constitutional level: the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfGE), and the Italian Constitutional Court. Based on an analysis of a sample of judicial decisions rendered over time, a convergent trend emerges: these Courts have recognized and effectively protected the landlord’s property rights against rent controls that were disproportionate and could not ensure a reasonable return on investment. This trend is prominent in the jurisprudence of the ECtHR: the Strasbourg Court has contributed to reshaping the distribution of power between tenants and landlords, encouraging the transition of Eastern and Southern European Countries to the common European housing market. In both upholding and striking down rent control measures, judges generally take market value and the comparative reference price as the preferred benchmarks for fair rent price. A consumption-based and financial characterization of housing, coupled with the fundamental right to derive economic benefits as core elements of the right to property, underpin the legal reasoning of the three Courts.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

In June 2024, it will be three years since the eppo started operating as a new EU judicial body with competences in criminal matters. Of course, this new institution has accomplished a lot since the beginning of its mandate, as anyone can recognise by reading the three annual reports, published in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively.

Automated decision-making systems are commonly used by human resources to automate recruitment decisions. Most automated decision-making systems utilize machine learning to screen, assess, and give recommendations on candidates. Algorithmic bias and prejudice are common side-effects of these technologies that result in data-driven discrimination. However, proof of this is often unavailable due to the statistical complexities and operational opacities of machine learning, which interferes with the abilities of complainants to meet the requisite causal requirements of the EU equality directives. In direct discrimination, the use of machine learning prevents complainants from demonstrating a prima facie case. In indirect discrimination, the problems mainly manifest once the burden has shifted to the respondent, and causation operates as a quasi-defence by reference to objectively justified factors unrelated to the discrimination. This paper argues that causation must be understood as an informational challenge that can be addressed in three ways. First, through the fundamental rights lens of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Second, through data protection measures such as the General Data Protection Regulation. Third, the article also considers the future liabilities that may arise under incoming legislation such as the Artificial Intelligence Act and the Artificial Intelligence Liability Directive proposal.

Over the last couple of decades, the EU has progressively gained a prominent role in promoting and protecting fundamental rights in Europe. Since 2000, the EU has its own ‘Bill of Rights’ – the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (henceforth the Charter) –the creation of which was driven by concerns related to the internal and external legitimacy of the Union and visibility of funda mental rights for Union citizens. Furthermore, the EU legislature has increasingly developed fundamental rights standards in secondary legislation in various areas such as equality law and data protection. This horizontal extension of standards across the EU's legislative efforts is reflected in the EU's legal and policy documents, which present the Union's commitment to fundamental rights as an aspiration and responsibility, shared among the EU institutions and its Member States.

This article argues that through the EU's technology regulation, technological concepts permeate legal language. Such concepts may function as transplants, even irritants, causing tensions and uncertainties. As technology regulation is increasingly horizontal, i.e. obligating private and public actors alike, these newfound legal concepts remain disconnected from established public law vocabulary and the power constellations it represents and embeds. We approach this evolution of legal language from public law perspective and concentrate on the concepts of ‘user’ and ‘deployer’ in the EU's upcoming Artificial Intelligence Act. We discuss these emerging legal concepts in relation to the rich theorizing on the concepts in human–computer interaction research. Our analysis demonstrates a discrepancy between legal and technology-oriented conceptualizations of the ‘user-deployer’. We draw three conclusions. First, the digital revolution is taking place in conceptual-linguistic practices of law, and not only when translating law into code. Second, when external concepts are appropriated into law, they are uprooted from their established habitat, which may result in unpredictability in future legal interpretation. Third, in public law, adopting the ‘user-deployer’ may have some additional challenges, as it introduces a new agent into the relationship between public authority and private entities. Simultaneously, citizens seem to be mainly excluded from the legal conceptualizing, which risks blurring traditional power constellations.

Data protection by design is an obligation for data controllers according to article 25(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The present paper explores the concept of data protection by design and proposes that data protection certificates can offer guidance to data controllers, about compliance with this GDPR obligation. An exploration of officially approved certification schemes shows that the certification requirements may lay down concrete use cases which can guide data controllers about compliance with the obligation of data protection by design. Even though these policies are not a comprehensive guide for data protection by design, they lay down valuable solutions with respect to effective compliance. Moreover, the data protection measures of compliance in certification criteria have been approved by the competent Data Protection Authority and possibly the European Data Protection Board. As the present paper argues, the official approval by the competent authorities creates legitimate expectations under European Union Law. Specifically, data controllers can legitimately expect that abidance by approved safeguards meets the expectations of the authorities that are entrusted with monitoring their compliance. For these reasons, certification though an ex post mechanism, can offer valuable ex ante guidance.

Electronic content data is a goldmine of data and information that may be relevant for a criminal investigation. Yet, these data are difficult to fit into the traditional set of evidence, and Member States use various approaches to its gathering and use. This makes the EU cross-border exchange of electronic content data context-sensitive, multilayered, ambiguous; as well as it involves the risks of privacy violations and inadmissibility concerns. Therefore, in order to achieve smooth collection and use of electronic content data, the EU needs to underpin the trust basis required for mutual recognition in this area. This study builds upon the line of research on art. 82.2 tfeu and its potential for implementing a real and multi-directional free movement of evidence regime. In this respect, it is aimed to identify common EU minimum standards for electronic content data, complemented with per se admissibility of evidence gathered accordingly. The study also advocates that with regard to electronic content data, the focus should switch from the specific measure to an overall data category. Such an approach does not intend to harmonise the methods of collecting electronic content data. Instead, any measure targeted at any electronic content data would have to meet an EU common minimum standard.

Protecting children online is a priority for the EU legislator. Since July 2021, an interim regulation allows service providers to derogate from confidentiality safeguards in the e-privacy Directive to fight child sexual abuse online. The European Commission aims to repeal this legislation with a proposal of May 2022. This Regulation will require providers to monitor users’ content communication for online child sexual abuse, among other things. Privacy experts worry that confidentiality standards (i.e. end-to-end encryption) will be weakened and that the Regulation will serve as a basis for indiscriminate interception of content communications. However, the implications of the proposal go beyond privacy and data protection and will impact criminal justice rights too.
Therefore, this contribution presents a comprehensive analysis of the proposal from a privacy, data protection and criminal justice perspective. It examines the proportionality of the measure and its implications within the Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice (AFSJ). Specifically, it looks at purpose limitation issues in data exchanges and the admissibility of such evidence in criminal proceedings. The aim is to show that the EU, while aiming at increasing data circulation in the AFSJ, might not be ready for this challenge from an infrastructural and fundamental rights standpoint.

As the EU's competences and activities in the area of external relations expand, it becomes increasingly relevant for citizens and civil society to be able to access documents related to EU external action in order to effectively participate in the democratic life of the EU. Yet many of the documents held by EU institutions on external affairs potentially fall within the scope of the ‘international relations’ and ‘defence and military matters’ exceptions contained in the EU's Access to Documents Regulation 1049/2001. This contribution critically assesses the application of these exceptions by the Court of Justice of the EU, the Ombudsman and the EU institutions themselves, and identifies which rationales might warrant withholding access to specific types of documents that concern EU external relations. In light of the expansion of the EU's external competences, this article argues that EU institutions should properly substantiate any refusal to disclose a document in this field, and the CJEU should apply stronger judicial scrutiny of the use of these exceptions, in order to safeguard the fundamental right of access to documents, and safeguard the democratic legitimacy of decision-making in the EU.

The EU's Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) introduces necessary deepfake regulations. However, these could infringe on the rights of AI providers and deployers or users, potentially conflicting with privacy and free expression under Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR). This paper critically examines how an unmodified AIA could enable voter manipulation, blackmail, and the generation of sexual abusive content, facilitating misinformation and potentially harming millions, both emotionally and financially. Through analysis of the AIA's provisions, GDPR's regulations, relevant case law, and academic literature, the paper identifies risks for both AI providers and users. While the AIA's yearly review cycle is important, the immediacy of these threats demands swifter action. This paper proposes two key amendments: 1) mandate structured synthetic data for deepfake detection, and 2) classify AI intended for malicious deepfakes as ‘high-risk’. These amendments, alongside clear definitions and robust safeguards would ensure effective deepfake regulation while protecting fundamental rights. The paper urges policymakers to adopt these amendments during the next review cycle to protect democracy, individual safety, and children. Only then will the AIA fully achieve its aims while safeguarding the freedoms it seeks to uphold.

Innovation plays a crucial role in defining competitive dynamics. Given this fact, one might expect ‘innovation’ to play a consistent role in antitrust law. The present article conducts a systematic content analysis of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union to test this hypothesis. The findings suggest that EU courts treat innovation inconsistently in competition law cases, often assigning different weight to innovation in similar contexts and neglecting central parameters agreed upon in the literature. To address this inconsistency, the article proposes measures to maintain the predictability of competition law analysis while giving innovation a more central role in the definition of relevant markets, evaluation of market power, and assessment of practices.

Cyber-violence is an entrenched phenomenon in the context of information society services, as the operational and business model of online platforms can pose severe harms and threats to online users. The Digital Services Act has come into force as of 19 October 2022, with the purpose of facing the risks and challenges for individual recipients of information society services. While ambitious in its aim to create the conditions for a ‘safe, predictable, and trustworthy online environment’, the Digital Services Act introduced several – yet still difficult to outline – due diligence obligations on very large online platforms (‘VLOPs’). The purpose of this article is to investigate said new due diligence obligations of the Digital Services Act Regulation, in the attempt to assess whether or not these might benefit the users most affected and/or exposed to cyber-violence within a long-term policy strategy.

The early judgments on the horizontal effects of the right of equal treatment on the grounds of age fuelled concerns about the excessive judicialization of EU fundamental social rights. In this context, this contribution adds to the existing literature on the topical issue of the normative significance, or added value, of the EU Charter. It shows that one of the aims underlying the adoption of the Charter was to place limits on the interpretative mandate of the Court. Based upon an analysis of case law, it seeks to ascertain the manner in which the new ‘parameters of interpretation’ introduced by the Charter have been employed in the jurisprudence dealing with the interpretation of fundamental social rights. This analysis demonstrates that the entry into force of the Charter seems to have generated a renewed emphasis on literalism with respect to the interpretation of fundamental social rights. At the same time, this contribution concludes that recent judgments do not fundamentally depart from the teleological mode of reasoning traditionally employed by the Court. The Court's recent juridprudence suggests that fundamental social rights have come to play a positive role as a source of self-standing subjective rights and obligations for the sake of individuals.

The opacity, autonomy and complexity of AI systems can stand in the way of a fair and efficient allocation of risk and loss. The European Commission (EC) has recognized this and has addressed these matters in two proposals for two directives: the AI Liability Directive and a new Product Liability Directive. Both Directives address information asymmetries between parties in a liability claim by providing new rules on the burden of proof. In addition, the proposed Product Liability Directive has been brought ‘up-to-date’ by explicitly incorporating new technical developments and by ending the debate on software as a product. Nevertheless, the injured party might still not receive compensation for the damage caused by a defective AI-system. This gives rise to the question of whether the legal framework for compensation should be revised more boldly to ensure compensation for the damage suffered by the injured party. This contribution will explore such a bold approach by delving into compensation funds. More specifically, this contribution will examine how a compensation fund for damage caused by AI-systems can be designed as well as what its boundaries could or should be and what its benefits could be.

Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme aus kommunaler Perspektive
Krisenzeiten stellen auch die Kommunen vor große Herausforderungen. Dies gilt nicht nur mit Blick auf ihre Verwaltungsstrukturen, Partizipationsprozesse und Finanzierungsgrundlagen, sondern auch und gerade hinsichtlich der demokratischen Auseinandersetzung mit verfassungsfeindlichen Parteien, Positionen und Personen. Zu oft hat sich die kommunale Ebene in der jüngeren Vergangenheit auf einen offenen Schlagabtausch mit den „Feinden der Freiheit“ eingelassen und wurde hierfür gerichtlich in die Schranken gewiesen. Die lokale Demokratie erweist sich demgegenüber vor allem dann als resilient, wenn sie demokratische Grundregeln beachtet, nicht in kalkulierten Rechtsungehorsam flüchtet und auf die Kraft der freien politischen Auseinandersetzung vertraut.

Directive 2016/680 provides for two procedures for the exercise of the rights of access to one's data: a direct one (that is, directly against the law enforcement authority) and an ‘indirect’ one, in which the responsible Data Protection Authority (DPA) exercises the right of access of the data subject against the law enforcement authority which refused the direct access, including by carrying out a legality check on the data processing of the personal data of the individual requesting access. The recent judgment in Ligue des droits humains ASBL treated the question of the powers of DPAs in the framework of this procedure, amongst others, as a matter of DPA independence. Existing literature has observed that the implementing laws of three Member States – Belgium, France and Germany – severely restrict the powers of the DPAs when these perform the ‘indirect’ right of access, for example to carry out the legality check and inform the individuals of the results of the check. In the this article we will argue that these national restrictions constitute an unjustified interference with the requirement on DPA independence in EU data protection law, including in Article 8(3) of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Nach langem Ringen wurde das Gesetz zur Änderung des Onlinezugangsgesetzes im Juni 2024 verabschiedet. Im nachfolgenden Beitrag werden die wichtigsten Änderungen vorgestellt und in die Debatten um die gebotenen Maßnahmen zur Forcierung der Digitalisierung der Verwaltung eingeordnet.

Der Beitrag greift vor allem Erkenntnisse der Organisationsoziologie zur Digitalisierung auf und verknüpft diese mit Ansätzen aus Recht, Management, Informatik und Psychologie sowie weiteren Impulsen aus den Geistes- und Naturwissenschaften. Eine zukunftsoffene Organisation nutzt über Formalisierung und Standardisierung hinaus informales und psychosoziales Verhalten und Methoden der Selbstorganisation sowie des organisationalen Lernens.

Viime vuosina on keskusteltu poliittisen mainonnan riskeistä ja tarpeesta säännellä verkkokohdennettua poliittista mainontaa. Euroopan unionissa ilmiötä on lähestytty vähintään neljällä eri tavalla, ja nämä muodostavat artikkelin viitekehyksen. Artikkelissa verrataan poliittisen mainonnan eri sääntelyjen eroja riippuen siitä, tarkastellaanko asiaa yleisen tietosuoja-asetuksen (GDPR) henkilötietojen suojan, EU digipalvelusäädöksen sähköisen kaupankäynnin ympäristön tai Euroopan unionin perusoikeuskirjan ja Euroopan ihmisoikeussopimuksen ilmaisun ja tiedonvapauden näkökulmasta. Edellä mainittujen lisäksi tarkastelemme myös EU:n uusia sääntöjä poliittisesta mainonnasta. Lisäksi artikkelissa tarkastellaan, miten eri sääntelykehykset vaikuttavat sääntelyn painopisteisiin tai täytäntöönpanon prioriteetteihin sekä sääntelyratkaisujen haasteita liittyen Suomen perustuslaillisiin tulkintoihin.

Within the healthcare sector, highly sensitive personal data, including data concerning health, is processed. The careless handling of such data can have a significant impact on the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons. It is central that data protection principles, including data protection by design, are followed by the healthcare sector. When these requirements are not met, it is crucial that enforcement action is taken to prevent personal data breaches. This article compares the enforcement carried out in the Netherlands and in the UK for breaches in the healthcare sector of the General Data Protection Regulation and the UK Data Protection Act 2018. The author reflects on whether more effective enforcement measures would lead to healthcare developments that are compliant with the data protection by design obligation (Article 25 of the GDPR). It is argued that in turn,compliance with this obligation can prevent personal data breaches and data protection complaints, rendering enforcement, and consequently recovery, superfluous.

This article assesses whether the rules of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) apply to cameras installed in vehicles, as well as how their use can be GDPR compliant and who is ultimately responsible for this. With the adoption of the GDPR, citizens of the EU now benefit from increased protection of their privacy, as the purpose of the Regulation is to lay down rules on the protection of natural persons in connection with the processing of personal data. The Regulation sets out several conditions for when and how personal data may be processed. These are reviewed in the following with a focus on cameras in cars.

Rechtschreibnormen haben einen hohen Stellenwert, ihr Rang als Leistungsanforderung bis zum Abitur benachteiligt Schüler und Schülerinnen mit Legasthenie wegen dieser Behinderung i. S. v. Art. 3 Abs. 3 Satz 2 GG. Das BVerfG hat nun bestätigt, dass aus Gründen der Chancen- und Prüfungsgleichheit (Art. 3 Abs. 1, Art. 12 Abs. 1 GG) Maßnahmen des Notenschutzes im Abschlusszeugnis vermerkt werden dürfen, solange dies einheitlich geschieht. Der Frage, ob hierdurch gegen das Inklusionsgebot des Art. 24 UN-BRK verstoßen wird, ist das Gericht nicht nachgegangen.

Online harms policy debates, and subsequent legislation, take, as their starting point, a prohibitive perspective which assumes that harms that occur online can be prevented, and, because they are facilitated with digital technology, they can be prevented with such. By exploring current debates around the pinnacle of online harms legislation in the UK, the Online Safety Bill, we propose that this prohibitive mindset, along with a failure to appreciate online harms as a social ill, rather than a technical one, will emerged poorly developed without a victim centric focus. In exploring the development of legislation around the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, we illustrate the failures in victim centric policy development, and argue that there are many parallels with the ‘war of drugs’ and the failures to tackle these social problems with prohibitive legislation, and suggest there is much to learn from these issues should policy makers care to look.

Considers the challenges of using criminal law to tackle forced marriage and protect its vulnerable victims, the human rights implications, difficulty of prosecuting victims' family members, and issues about forcing a woman to stay in a marriage or to enter an informal non-legal marriage.

Reviews ECtHR cases on national laws which restrict immigration from third countries, and individuals' claims, based on the right to family life, to be reunited with their family members from abroad.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

Discusses whether street artists and graffiti artists have to submit to infringement of their copyright and moral rights because to bring a legal challenge they would have to disclose their "true" identity and might face prosecution.

This article explores a facet of the relationship between trade marks and the criminal law in the UK in the interwar era, a pivotal period of transition in UK economic policy from free trade to a more managed economy. Drawing together insights from legal, business and economic history, we show that, in the interwar years, the context of domestic politics and wider international trade policy, produced a greater focus on the relationship between trade marks and market-place understandings of the national origin of manufactured products. This context included the passage of the Merchandise Marks Act 1926, a criminal law statute that stipulated the circumstances in which imported goods were to be marked with an indication of national origin, and included a criminal offence regulating trade marks enforced by prosecutions brought by the Board of Trade. We argue that the criminal law regulating trade marks became entwined with ‘soft’ trade policy, i.e. a means of protecting the domestic/Empire market falling short of tariff protection. Drawing on substantial original archival research, we explore the problems that confronted the Board of Trade when it enforced the 1926 Act in view of market realities.

The right of priority established in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property allows a patent applicant to claim the filing date of a first application for any subsequent applications for the same invention filed within twelve months in another Paris Convention Contracting State. This right may be claimed by the person who has filed an application or their successor in title. If priority is not validly claimed, patent applications and patents relying on the right may be rejected, revoked or invalidated. National and regional rules governing who may claim priority, whether a priority right may be divided or shared, whether it may be transferred independently of the priority application and the rights to the invention, and the requirements for a valid transfer differ from country to country. The issue of whether priority has been validly claimed may therefore depend on which country’s law applies, which depends on the characterisation of the issues. The aim of this article is to provide a European perspective on the law applicable to the right of priority.

Discusses whether the concept of privacy in English law fails to protect individuals from commercialisation and commodification because it developed from the protection of the photographed subject and the model of self-commodification and control of the exploitation of one's own image.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

In this paper, I outline a proposal for a revised approach to jurisdiction over criminal matters in the European Union, concerning real-world situations. The analysis is rooted in two fundamental premises – the condition of foreseeability of the relevant norms, and the possibility of separating substantial and procedural criminal laws. From this perspective, I argue for a reduction of the jurisdictional nexuses applicable in the context of interactions between Member States. Considering the fundamentals of criminal law and the aim of the Union to create one area of freedom, security and justice, a multiplication of various links is superfluous. A reduction is not only possible and justified to adequately protect the interests of the states and individuals but would also provide a suitable tool for mitigating redundant conflicts of jurisdiction.

This paper investigates the effect of legal deterrence (sticks) and economic conditions (carrots) on environmental crime in Italy. We have a unique dataset of environmental crime related to illegal wastewater and waste activities across regions for the decade 2006–2016. Considering that, albeit scant, a first recent literature on environmental crimes in Italy has already begun to study the relationship between economic growth, socio-economic variables, and environmental crime, our analysis is committed to explore the extent to which enforcement and deterrence variables can have an impact on the phenomenon under observation. Consistent with the law and economics literature, our empirical findings show evidence that both economic conditions and enforcement efforts may be effective tools for the fight against environmental crime and, thus, support policy makers to better target environmental crime-control policies in Italy.

Dass Kinder darunter leiden, wenn ihre Eltern in Haft gehen müssen, ist eine Tatsache, die in den letzten Jahren verstärkt in das Bewusstsein der Vollzugswelt und der interessierten Öffentlichkeit gedrungen ist. Ausgehend von einen Fall aus Baden- Württemberg, in dem einer Gefangenen im Jugendstrafvollzug ihr Neugeborenes unmittelbar nach der Geburt weggenommen worden ist, reflektiert der Beitrag über das Verhältnis von Elternrechten, Kindeswohl und staatlichem Strafanspruch, von Strafvollstreckungs- und Strafvollzugsrecht zum Familienrecht und über die Stellung der Strafvollzugsanstalten.

Der Schutz des öffentlichen Friedens durch das Strafrecht wird durch die Fragmentierung der Öffentlichkeit vor neue Schwierigkeiten gestellt. Dies zeigt sich bei der Anwendung der sogenannten Eignungsklauseln in aktuell von den Gerichten zu beurteilenden Fällen. Damit Strafvorschriften wie § 130 und § 140 StGB ihre Funktion als Spielregeln im demokratischen Diskurs erfüllen können, sollte sich das Strafrecht von dem traditionellen Begriff des öffentlichen Friedens verabschieden und sich stärker auf den Schutz von Rechtsgütern besinnen.

In Sweden, individuals who claim they have been wrongfully convicted can apply for post-conviction review. However, researchers have argued that the path towards exoneration is filled with barriers that some may overcome, while others do not, regardless of the actual merits of the wrongful conviction claim. In this study, I explore the tension between the intuitively reasonable tendency of applicants to blame the criminal justice system for causing the wrongful conviction and the potential limitations in the structure and application of the post-conviction review remedy regarding the accountability of the justice system itself. This is achieved by means of a case study focused on a decade-long struggle that resulted in an individual (NN) being exonerated after serving 13 years of his lifetime imprisonment sentence. NN claimed that he had been wrongly convicted of murder due to failings and errors within the justice system, but was eventually exonerated on grounds that had nothing to do with the criminal justice process or the actions of the legal actors involved. I also discuss the support NN received from lawyers and journalists, something that few other applicants have access to, which enabled him to present the type of evidence that resulted in his exoneration.

Prior studies have found an increasing level of firearm-related violence with both lethal and non-lethal outcomes in Sweden, concentrated among young men. This study compares the Swedish trend with 22 other European countries to examine whether any of them might show signs of similar development as Sweden. The analyses are primarily based on mortality data from Eurostat and the World Health Organization for the period 2000–2019. For both homicide in general and firearm homicides against men and young adults, the results show a clear downward trend in almost all of the countries studied, together with an increasing degree of convergence, due to the sharpest declines in homicide in countries with high homicide levels at the beginning of the period examined. Some countries have experienced substantial variations from year to year, partly due to a number of terror attacks, but Sweden is the only country in which a continuous increase in firearm homicides against men and young adults (aged 20–29) can be observed since 2005. Today, Sweden appears to have the highest rate of firearm homicides against men and young adults among the examined European Union countries and lies above the European average for homicide in general.

Applying the rational choice model of crime, this study estimates the optimality of sanctions for environmental crimes, the social cost of these crimes and the expected gain to the offender with Finnish court data from 327 criminal cases in the period 2013–2018. Sensitivity analyses are conducted for the optimal fine, the expected gain from the crime and its social cost. The time-lag and uncertainties related to the restoration of the environmental harm are explicitly included in the model and the empirical analysis. The average fine was much lower than the optimal fine even when taking into account the constraint posed by the offenders’ wealth and disregarding the time-lag and uncertainties related to the restoration of the environmental harm. The use of prison sentences was also suboptimal. Even when the illegal gain was fully forfeited, the expected gain from the crime to the offender remained positive. Our results suggest a need to increase the cost of punishment by higher fines and reliable forfeiture of the illegal economic gain. They also point to the importance of systematically estimating both the environmental damage and the illegal gain from the crime as these were available respectively for only 24% (N = 79) and 3% (N = 11) of all cases.

The distinction between intention and negligence is – in contrast to criminal law – only of limited significance in the law of delict because negligence on the part of the tortfeasor generally suffices for liability to arise. In light of this dissimilarity between private and criminal law, the article critically analyses in which regard, if at all, intention (compared to negligence) should have a distinct role in the law of tort. Six possible fields of differentiation (protected interests and rights, causation, contributory fault, exclusion clauses, set-offs/rights of retention as well as periods of prescription) are examined. The approach of the article is comparative in nature, taking the law of various, mostly European, jurisdictions into account. Ultimately, three functions of intention are identified: Firstly, it is only a factor in the consistent application of the already existing rules, which, nonetheless, leads to results which deviate from those for negligence (this is true for (normative) causation and contributory fault). Secondly, intention serves as a consideration while balancing the interests of tortfeasors and aggrieved parties to determine what the substance of the law of delict should be (this is true for protected interests and rights as well as periods of prescription). Thirdly, intention has a distinct role because there is a specific justification for it which only applies to it but not to negligence (this is true for exclusion clauses and set-offs/rights of retention).

The article examines the deepening crisis in the treatment of women and girls by the legal/criminal justice system – as the legal and policy architecture that has long failed to deliver equal access to justice for victims of gender-based violence is confronted with new and altered forms of perpetration. Cautioning against a singular reliance on the law to prevent and respond to technology-facilitated coercive control, the authors contend that piecemeal law reform diverts much needed attention from the broader social and legal reforms needed to ensure equal and safe access to justice for victim-survivors of all forms of gender-based violence, including those forms perpetrated via technology. Through case and legislative analyses, the authors note that efforts to redress the harms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence must be alert to the risks of reactive legislation, discrimination, net-widening and overcriminalisation, victim blaming, systems abuse, and, in some cases, a further loss of autonomy, legal agency, and personhood for victim-survivors. The article concludes by arguing for a dismantling of the structural violence that pervades both the field of digital technology and the criminal justice sector, to avert the continued development, application, and weaponization of new technologies as instruments of misogynist abuse.

Police officers are gatekeepers of the Danish victim-offender mediation programme (Konfliktråd) because they have primary responsibility for referring citizens to mediation. The aim of this article is to investigate discretionary elements of police practice that may shed light on the reasons for low caseflow into the programme. Drawing on interviews with 16 frontline police officers, this case study explores both pragmatic and moral dimensions of referral practices to Konfliktråd. In line with previous work, we find that victim-offender mediation is generally not prioritised in the daily work of frontline police officers. Applying a moral policing lens, we further illustrate how multiple (in)acts of discretion influence not only whether the possibility of mediation is presented to victims and offenders, but also how this offer is framed. Greater attention to officers’ ‘gut feelings’, moral evaluations of offender eligibility, and care for victims, is needed to comprehend and address problems with unequal access to restorative justice in Denmark.

In Singapore, the introduction of the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 (POFMA) generated considerable debate and feedback. One of the main concerns was whether the law would unduly restrict the freedom of expression. In focusing on the provisions of POFMA that could possibly apply to hate speech, this paper situates the criticisms within the larger framework of international human rights law and international practices and proposes some ways forward to improve the regulatory framework for online hate speech.

Taking a historical perspective, this article compares the four Nordic states of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden with respect to the following question: How have problem representations developed the Nordic region’s policy response to the exploitation of migrant workers? We demonstrate that parallel and competing problem representations, defined in government policy as ‘human trafficking’, ‘forced labour’, ‘work-related crime’ and ‘social dumping’, have emerged and manifested themselves across the Nordic countries. We conclude by reflecting on the consequences of these policy responses to exploited migrant workers and argue that, of the four nation states studied, Finland’s policy response to labour exploitation has been the most comprehensive, since it addresses both the exploitative employer and the victim of exploitation.

Tässä artikkelissa käsitellään Suomen rikoslain 20 luvun, joka koskee seksuaalirikoksia, uudistusta, joka tuli voimaan vuoden 2023 alussa. Artikkelissa tarkastellaan uudistuksen taustalla olevia tavoitteita sekä sitä, miten uudistettua lakia on sovellettu käytännössä tuomioistuimissa. Artikkelissa analysoidaan tuoreita käräjäoikeuden tuomioita, joissa uutta lainsäädäntöä on sovellettu ja todetaan, että uudistus ei ole ainakaan merkittävästi koventanut tuomioita.

This article explores how the rise of the digital society affects re/integration work in prisons. In this context, we examine how employees involved in this work handle the disparity between the almost entirely analogue world of prison and the digital welfare state in their re/integration efforts. The study draws on interviews with employees in Norwegian correctional services in and outside of prisons, and municipal welfare services, as well as men currently serving or having previously served a sentence in Norwegian high security prisons. We employ thematic analysis of the interviews, aligning them with the theoretical framework of street-level bureaucracy. Our main findings are that the rise of the digital society challenges re/integration efforts and increases the workload of prison employees. Compensating for incarcerated persons’ lack of digital access requires time, commitment and technical skills, and depends on individual employees’ discretion, leading to inconsistency in the provision of services.

Im Kontext des Klimawandels folgt aus ohnehin bestehenden strukturellen Asymmetrien im Geschlechterverhältnis eine Klimavulnerabilität. Diese Klimavulnerabilität findet ihre Fortführung in klimawandelbedingter Migration, die ihrerseits Ausdruck multidimensionaler Ungleichheiten ist. Durch das Recht werden Genderaspekte klimawandelbedingter Migration weder hinreichend sichtbar gemacht noch angemessen adressiert. Gestützt auf normativ begründete Überlegungen zur Klimagerechtigkeit wird in diesem Beitrag untersucht, wie die Steuerungspotentiale des Rechts nutzbar gemacht werden können, um die Regelungsdefizite abzumildern.

Die globale Klimakatastrophe verlangt ein viel entschiedeneres Handeln zur Minderung der Treibhausgasemissionen, als es in Deutschland und Europa bisher durchsetzbar ist. Dies ist ein Versäumnis nicht nur der Politik, sondern auch der Rechtsprechung.

Suomen maankäytön suunnittelua ja rakentamista koskeva lainsäädäntö muuttuu merkittävästi vuoden 2025 alussa, kun rakennuslaki (751/2023) tulee voimaan. Yksi merkittävimmistä muutoksista koskee kaavoittamattoman rakentamisen sääntelyä. Uuteen rakennuslakiin liittyy tiettyjä ongelmia liittyen vaikutusten arviointiin ja perusoikeuksien huomioimiseen. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan kriittisesti maankäytön suunnittelua ja rakentamista koskevaa lainsäädännön kehitystä, sekä luodaan ymmärrys järjestelmästä, joka on puuttunut kyseisiä säännöksiä koskevissa lainsäädäntötarkistuksissa.

In 1989, serial offender Desmond Applebee was tried in the Australian Capital Territory for the rape of a young woman. A first for Australian courts, the prosecution tendered DNA evidence to counter Applebee’s alibi that he had been unconscious in his car at the time. However, despite the handling of novel scientific evidence being hotly debated at the time, the trial failed to engage with the legal issues this new evidence raised. The defence was unprepared and under-resourced to put into issue evidentiary principles; there was no systemic means for addressing the issues raised by novel scientific evidence if the defence did not do so. This paper argues that the Applebee case is a dissatisfying case of first impression, graphically illustrating the struggles legal systems can have interrogating novel scientific evidence. The case helped smooth adoption of this new form of evidence. How courts receive and respond to scientific evidence is today again in mind owing to the recent quashing of Kathleen Folbigg’s murder conviction following genetic discoveries; Applebee shows why relying on a particular defendant and particular defence counsel to carry out a gate-keeping function for admissibility of novel evidence collides with practical realities of the court system.

Die fortschreitende Digitalisierung des Zivilprozesses ermöglicht den Verfahrensbeteiligten eine ortsungebundene Verfahrensführung und -teilnahme. Diese Entwicklung wirft die Frage nach dem Sinn der Regeln über die örtliche Zuständigkeit auf. Insbesondere der hinter dem Allgemeinen Gerichtsstand stehende Gedanke des Beklagtenschutzes ist fragwürdig geworden, aber auch der auf Ortsnähe beruhende Deliktsgerichtsstand. Daher könnte man erwägen, künftig stattdessen einen gewissen Anteil von Verfahrenseingängen nach anderen als örtlichen Gesichtspunkten auf die Gerichte zu verteilen, um dadurch eine gleichmäßigere Auslastung der Gerichte zu erreichen.

The author analyses the right to a public hearing in criminal cases in the light of the development of communication technology, the media, and the digitalization of courts. After a presentation of the current Strasburg standards he shows the competing values and the need for balance. He presents the possible solutions of preserving the right in relation to traditional hearings, hybrid hearings, virtual hearings, and online courts. It is argued that the development of different forms of remote hearings changes the perception and implementation of the right to a public hearing and that developments in technology call for limitations on the public character of hearings, rather than for increasing publicity. It was also observed that the Strasburg jurisprudence not only identifies the negative obligations of parties concerning the right, but also requires them to take some positive actions.

Tässä artikkelissa tarkastelun kohteena on erityisesti pakkokeinolain todisteiden esittämisen kynnykset, niiden erilaiset tasot ja niiden väliset suhteet. Tavoitteena on määritellä, millä todennäköisyystasolla asia voidaan katsoa todistetuksi, ja siten todistustaakka täytetyksi. Lisäksi käsitellään sitä, miten nämä kynnykset vaikuttavat pakkokeinojen käyttämiseen ja miten todisteiden esittämisen keinot ja mahdollisuudet otetaan huomioon tässä prosessissa.

This article considers the position as to proof of foreign law in the English courts in light of the case of FS Nile Plaza v Brownlie [2021] UKSC 45 and the 11th edition of the Commercial Court Guide. We discuss the “old notion” of proof by expert witnesses, the extent to which recent developments displace the traditional role of the expert and enhance that of the advocate, and the dicta in Brownlie concerning the presumptions of similarity and continuity and judicial notice. While welcoming the greater flexibility in the way foreign law can be put before the English court, we argue that the use of oral expert evidence and cross-examination will remain important in at least two types of case: those where the issue of foreign law is complex or novel, and those where the English court does not just need to ascertain the “correct” interpretation of foreign law, but rather predict whether a foreign court would in reality provide appropriate relief in relation to the matter before the court.

The London Convention and London Protocol are the two main international treaties of global application addressing the protection of the marine environment from pollution caused by the dumping of wastes and other matter into the sea. This article describes how the treaties were developed and adopted, explores their relationship with the overarching 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) and examines how the treaties are administered to implement their vision of ‘two instruments, one family’. The article also highlights the ground-breaking steps the London Convention and London Protocol have taken to address new threats to the ocean, which include regulating new climate change mitigation technologies that have the potential to cause harm to the marine environment.

This is the latest in a series of annual surveys in this Journal reviewing dispute settlement in the law of the sea, both under Part XV of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and outside the framework of the Convention. The most significant developments during 2023 were the judgments on the merits of a Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in the Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives) case and of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 Nautical Miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (Nicaragua v. Colombia) case; the commencement of two new cases before the ITLOS and the ICJ concerning the seizure and detention of vessels and climate change obligations, respectively; and the findings and recommendations of a panel established by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation to consider the validity of one of its fisheries conservation and management measures.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2023 Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emission from Ships offers few specifics from a legal perspective, but is an important political signal. IMO Member States have committed to adopt binding rules to incentivise greenhouse gas emission reductions in 2025 which will enter into force by 2027. Moreover, the Strategy calls for the elimination of shipping emissions by or around 2050 and sets checkpoints to track progress. IMO now faces key decisions to implement the Strategy, including how to structure a goal-based fuel standard, how to integrate an economic element (e.g., an emission levy) into its regulatory framework, its methods for assessing upstream emissions and effects of fuel production, and specific reduction pathways. These measures will likely be effectuated as amendments to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, leveraging its existing compliance and enforcement tools, including port State controls.

For a long time, the full impacts of armed conflicts on the marine environment have been ill-defined and largely neglected. World War I and II-era remnants of war at sea pose increasing threats to human and marine life, particularly over the coming decade, as they contaminate, pollute, or detonate toxic and hazardous substances into coastal and benthic ecosystems. The International Law Commission’s Principles for Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts aim to enhance protections for the marine environment before, during, and after conflict. In practice, this means navigating an uncoalesced legal regime and relying on established principles of international environmental law – particularly the duty to cooperate and share information. However, considerable knowledge gaps need to be addressed to remedy the vast legacy of war in the ocean, as the majority of remnants of war at sea remain under-assessed, in part, due to financial and technical constraints.

The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Conference) was a milestone as the first global meeting of governments to address threats to the environment, including the ocean and seas. Over the fifty years since the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration, new pressing threats to the marine environment have emerged, such as loss of marine biodiversity, including in the high seas, marine plastic pollution, climate change, and illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing. This article will review the developments that have taken place at the International Maritime Organization and other bodies of the United Nations to address these new threats to the marine environment, reflecting how international law continues to play a vital role in promotion of ocean governance.

Russia is systematically mapping critical infrastructure in the North and Baltic Seas. These activities are intended to unsettle nato countries and prepare the ground for possible sabotage. The problem is that the international law of the sea does not provide coastal States with clear authority to prevent the collection of intelligence on maritime infrastructure within their Exclusive Economic Zones (eez s). This article argues that coastal States must nevertheless be able to exercise their sovereign rights with respect to the exploration and exploitation of the eez and continental shelf. Consequently, they must be allowed to take the necessary measures to protect the infrastructure serving the exercise of those sovereign rights. This argument could help to establish a legal basis for countering Russian mapping operations in the eez s and on the continental shelves of coastal States in the North and Baltic Seas.

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is an ongoing scourge upon society. There is minimal understanding of the experiences of mothers and children in private law family court proceedings (PLP), when CSA is reported. A qualitative study was conducted and a feminist-informed Foucauldian Discourse Analysis was applied to understand ten life-stories from within a larger sample of 45. Five themes are presented. CSA was overwhelmingly reported as being minimised, with harmful outcomes for children and mothers reported. Pro-father and ‘parental alienation’ narratives were a facilitator of severe harm and continued male violence to victim-survivor mothers and children. Further research into the scale and prevalence of CSA within PLP is urgently required.

Those in family court proceedings are at the sharp end of a spectrum of disputes concerning their children’s upbringing. Emerging evidence shows that, regarding both public and private law, socioeconomic and health deprivation of various forms is associated with higher rates of proceedings. Discovering health and social determinants of proceedings could inform upstream interventions to support parenting, improve wellbeing, reduce conflict and adversity and prevent the need for court involvement in the first place. It could also inform measures to mitigate the adverse health effects of legal processes on vulnerable families and debates on legal aid and alternative dispute resolution in private proceedings. This ‘public health’ approach to family justice is now possible by innovations in linking whole-population, routinely collected datasets between the courts, healthcare and other services. This article explores the possibilities of combining legal and epidemiological understandings, methods and skills in researching family justice to inform practice, policy and legislative reform.

Über längere Zeit war es in Deutschland zumindest an der juristischen Oberfläche ruhig um den Schwangerschaftsabbruch. Dies ändert sich gerade. Für Deutschland steht eine Regulierung des Schwangerschaftsabbruchs »außerhalb des Strafgesetzbuchs« im politischen Debattenraum. Das Strafrecht ist allerdings nicht der einzige Ort, an dem der Schwangerschaftsabbruch reguliert wird. Auch das Familienrecht wirkt durch die Vorstellung vom elterlichen Co-Konsens darauf ein, wem ein Schwangerschaftsabbruch offensteht. Diese familienrechtliche Überlagerung leuchtet inzwischen nicht mehr allen ein. Der daraus entstehende Konflikt übersteigt jedoch die Bewältigungsfähigkeiten von Instanzenzug und Wissenschaft. Der Beitrag schließt mit rechtspolitischen Perspektiven.

Increasing global mobility of people with disabilities, changes in the measures employed to protect them, and growing awareness of their human rights significantly challenge the existing cross-border protection of adults around the world. National legislations are slow to react to this challenge, and the existing solutions are often insufficient. While the Hague Convention on the Protection of Adults (2000) is imperfect, it offers a solution to this problem. This article discusses the changing approach towards people with disabilities and their rights and demonstrates the incompatibility of the local protection of adults with their cross-border protection. The article further explores possible solutions to this problem. It then explains why the Hague Adults Convention is the best solution to this problem and what changes should and could be made in order to improve the solution offered by the Convention even further.

Treaties are concluded by States but often impose rights and obligations directly upon private parties. Can private parties contract out of a treaty including States’ oppositions without explicit permissions granted by the treaty? The complexity between party autonomy and State sovereignty is reflected in recent cases and unsettled debates regarding the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra Judicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters of November 15, 1965 (“HSC”). The HSC contains a large number of oppositions made by 65 Contracting States including China, Germany, India, and Singapore. Combining public and private international law, this paper aims to explore the correlative relationship between party autonomy and State sovereignty in applying the HSC.

The Brussels IIb Regulation, dealing with proceedings in matrimonial matters, those of parental responsibility and international child abduction cases, is the newest instrument of the European Union in international family law. The article critically evaluates its most significant changes compared to its predecessor, the Brussels IIa Regulation, in the fields of jurisdiction and of recognition and enforcement. In addition, it analyses how the Brussels IIb Regulation optimises the provisions of the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction between the member states of the European Union. The article argues that the regulation is overall a helpful and welcome addition to international family law because it strengthens the welfare of the child and enhances the practical functionality and normative structure of its predecessor. Nevertheless, scope for further improvements in another recast regulation is identified.

The sustainability of the global economy, particularly in response to the concerns of climate change, is an issue which impacts many different aspects of life and work around the world. It raises particular questions concerning globalised industries or markets which depend on long distance transportation for their function. This article takes as its focus international civil litigation – the judicial resolution of cross-border disputes – as a particular example of a globalised market in which sustainability considerations are presently neglected, and examines how this omission ought to be addressed. It proposes a modification to English law which aims to ensure that jurisdictional decisions by the English courts take into account their environmental impact – that is to say, the environmental impact of the selection of a particular forum. The article also considers the implications of adopting this change on the position of the English courts in the global litigation marketplace, arguing that the effects are likely to be limited, and it could have an incidental benefit in promoting the development and adoption of communications technologies in judicial dispute resolution.

This article examines the principles of implied jurisdiction agreements and their validity on a global scale. While the existing scholarly literature primarily focuses on express jurisdiction agreements, this study addresses the evident lack of scholarly research works on implied jurisdiction agreements. As such, it contributes to an understanding of implied jurisdiction agreements, providing valuable insights into their practical implications for international commercial contracts. The paper’s central question is whether implied jurisdiction agreements are globally valid and should be enforced. To answer this question, the article explores primary and secondary sources from various jurisdictions around the world, including common law, civil law, and mixed legal systems, together with insights from experts in commercial conflict of laws. The paper argues for a cautious approach to the validity of implied jurisdiction agreements, highlighting their potential complexities and uncertainties. It contends that such agreements may lead to needless jurisdictional controversies and distract from the emerging global consensus on international jurisdiction grounds. Given these considerations, the paper concludes that promoting clear and explicit jurisdiction agreements, as supported by the extant international legal frameworks, such as the Hague Conventions of 2005 and 2019, the EU Brussels Ia Regulation, and the Lugano Convention, would provide a more predictable basis for resolving cross-border disputes.

With the rise of expectations regarding corporate sustainability, the regulatory landscape for companies has expanded to encompass both international and national dimensions. This expansion is a response to the far-reaching ecological and social consequences of corporate activities that transcend national boundaries. Notably, the European Union (EU) has also realized this aspect while addressing these global concerns, as evidenced by the formulation of the Corporate Sustainability and Due Diligence Directive (‘CSDDD’ or ‘Directive’). The CSDDD mandates a corporate due diligence obligation applicable to companies both within and outside the EU, with the objective of integrating environmental and human rights considerations throughout the whole corporate supply chain. However, despite its ambitious objectives, the CSDDD’s approach to private international law may undermine the overall efficacy of the CSDDD. Specifically, the Directive lacks provisions related to choice-of-law rules on applicable law and jurisdiction which are critical instruments that facilitate access to justice and complement the EU’s due diligence policy. In the absence of strong private enforcement, the reliance on public enforcement through the national supervisory authorities emerges as a pragmatic recourse. In keeping with this discourse, this paper demonstrates the deficiencies of the CSDDD concerning private international law instruments and subsequently explores the viability of public enforcement as a more effective avenue for facilitating access to remedy for claimants.

Will substitutes exist in many legal systems, including those of Member States of the European Union. Two of these will substitutes are deathbed gifts and contracts for the benefit of a third party upon death. Both instruments are located at the intersection of succession law and contract law and are therefore difficult to characterise for the purposes of private international law. One could either characterise them as succession instruments in the sense of the EU Succession Regulation or as contracts in the sense of the Rome I Regulation. This article analyses the different options on how to characterise these will substitutes by taking into account the wording of both Regulations, comparative analysis of the substantive law, the likelihood of adaptation and the recent judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on this matter.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

Das Konsulargesetz regelt seit 50 Jahren nahezu unverändert die konsularische Tätigkeit, wird aber zunehmend durch ein sich wandelndes, feministisch geprägtes Verständnis von Außenpolitik herausgefordert. Hier setzt der Beitrag an. Nach einem Überblick über das hergebrachte System konsularischer Aufgabenwahrnehmung werden anschließend Anliegen und Programmatik Feministischer Außenpolitik vorgestellt. Kernidee dieses Politikverständnisses ist die Berücksichtigung der Belange und Perspektiven marginalisierter Gruppen in allen Bereichen außenpolitischen Handelns mit einer Fokussierung auf die Menschenrechte. Dies gibt den Rahmen vor, um über Optionen zur Implementation der Grundsätze Feministischer Außenpolitik in die Organisation und die Durchführung konsularischer Aufgaben nachzudenken.

Integrating science in the making and implementation of international and regional treaties emerges as an essential component of modern and future international law-making amidst profound climatic, geophysical, and biological changes worldwide. The interplay between science and law or the law-science nexus within, inter alia, the international legal frameworks on climate change, biodiversity, and fisheries offers different levels of integration of science. In practice, subsidiary scientific bodies play a key role in enabling the dialogue between scientists and law/policymakers. However, persisting challenges remain, hampering the optimal implementation of the law-science nexus. Against this background and with comparative perspectives from the 2018 Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement, which entered into force in 2021, this article explores the evolution of the law-science nexus in international law-making. Furthermore, it highlights current challenges, namely the politicization of science and scientific uncertainty, and identifies opportunities to enhance this interplay. In shedding light on the importance of building an efficient law-science nexus, this article aims to inspire future international law-making to strengthen global and regional governance.

In this article we discuss the interdisciplinarity as a practical question and a theoretical challenge. We place international law on a disciplinary map and advocate for theoretical openings towards other social sciences using the critique on methodological nationalism in social sciences as an example of possibilities for broadening the theoretical approaches. We suggest that methodological dialogue should be taken as central in research practices. We also inquire into interdisciplinarity practices that include theoretical openness towards other disciplines and explain how they could benefit legal scholars particularly when analysing consequences of the law. A number of examples from the interdisciplinarity in Nordic countries are included and some of their approaches and terminological challenges discussed.

In March 2011, a powerful earthquake off the east coast of Japan triggered a tsunami leading to a nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. A consequence of this accident was the accumulation of contaminated wastewater at the nuclear power plant. Japan’s announcement that, following treatment, this wastewater would be released into the ocean over a 30-year period from 2023 raised environmental concerns. This article provides background context to this issue, briefly notes how certain environmental instruments are not applicable, before discussing the potential relevance of the international law of the sea.

Vor fünfzig Jahren, im September 1974, wurde das Konsulargesetz erlassen. Es ist am 15. Dezember 1974 in Kraft getreten und – ungeachtet aller zwischenzeitlichen Veränderungen in den äußeren Rahmenbedingungen – bis heute weitgehend unverändert geblieben. Das fünfzigjährige „Jubiläum“ gibt Anlass, den Standort des Konsularrechts in der Gesamtrechtsordnung zu beleuchten und den Entwicklungsperspektiven dieses Rechtsgebiets im 21. Jahrhundert nachzugehen. Im Fokus steht dabei vor allem die Europäisierung des Konsularrechts. Erste Schritte wurden auf diesem Wege schon gegangen. Weitere müssen folgen.

States have long trespassed on the territory of other States to carry out surveillance. However, new technologies are changing the stakes of these incursions: uncrewed aerial vehicles (uav s) and uncrewed maritime vehicles (umv s) used for surveillance can trespass in on foreign territory without risk to their operators. In addition, States appear to be more willing to capture or destroy trespassing uncrewed vehicles. This paper assesses whether these developments suggest there is a basis to denying trespassing uncrewed devices sovereign immunity from the enforcement jurisdiction of territorial States. It argues that while uncrewed devices (like other forms of military property used for non-commercial purposes) are entitled to sovereign immunity, they can lose that immunity through their conduct, including by trespassing on the territory of another State. This allows for the territorial State to exercise enforcement jurisdiction, including the use of force, over the uav or umv.

This article analyses the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (Hong Kong Convention) and shows that these agreements lay down environmental obligations – and sometimes corresponding rights – for States regarding the protection of health and the environment. Predictably, they do not envisage rights for the victims of environmental violations. Despite inherent and persistent limitations of international human rights in general and environmental rights in particular, a human right to a healthy environment may contribute in several ways to better environmental protection in the ship recycling sector. Importantly, the human rights-based approach to the environmental and health standards in ship recycling may reduce the troubling divergence between the Basel and Hong Kong frameworks and increase the minimum standards for sound and safe recycling, bringing it in line with European requirements.

Der Beitrag setzt sich mit der Rechtsprechung des BVerfG zum Menschenbild des Grundgesetzes auseinander. Es wird untersucht, wie das Gericht den Begriff des Menschenbildes inhaltlich bestimmt und welche Funktion diesem dadurch zukommt. Zugleich sollen verschiedene Missverständnisse und Fehldeutungen, denen sich diese Rechtsprechung des BVerfG ausgesetzt sieht, ausgeräumt werden.

Am 20.3.2024 verhandelte das BVerfG mündlich zur Verfassungsmäßigkeit der Nichtwahl bzw. Abwahl von Ausschussvorsitzenden der AfD-Fraktion im Deutschen Bundestag. Der vorliegende Beitrag arbeitet den verfassungs- und geschäftsordnungsrechtlichen Rahmen für die Besetzung des Ausschussvorsitzes heraus, mit dem Ergebnis, dass weder der Grundsatz der Gleichbehandlung der Fraktionen (Art. 38 Abs. 1 Satz 2 GG) noch der Grundsatz der fairen und loyalen Anwendung der Geschäftsordnung noch der Grundsatz effektiver Opposition eine Besetzung des Vorsitzes mit Abgeordneten der Oppositionsfraktionen zwingend gebieten, sondern vielmehr eine Vorsitzbestimmung in freier Wahl zulassen. Ob die damit möglicherweise verbundene Abkehr von der altbewährten Parlamentstradition, Ausschussvorsitze konsensual und nach Fraktionsstärke zu besetzen, politisch opportun und zur Sicherung der Arbeitsfähigkeit des Bundestags tatsächlich erforderlich ist, muss der Bundestag selbst im Rahmen seiner Geschäftsordnungsautonomie beurteilen und entscheiden.

In the famous case of Baka v. Hungary, Judge Sicilianos proposed that the European Court of Human Rights should recognize a subjective right for judges to have their individual independence safeguarded and respected by the State. Such a reading of Article 6 of the Convention would enable national judges to claim a violation of that provision each time their individual independence is interfered with. It would also allow the Court to address one of the critical blind spots in the Convention system. However, the Court left the proposal dormant until recently. It is now put before the parties in three pending cases. This article argues that the Court should seize the opportunity to enhance the protection of judicial independence, but not by employing the proposed subjective right approach. Instead, it should rely on the better alternative: the chilling effect. Such an approach would enable the Court to fill the gaps in the Convention while remaining faithful to the text and avoiding the impression that judicial independence is a privilege of judges.

Angesichts der historischen und aktuellen Entwicklungen in anderen Staaten ist zu begrüßen, dass in unserem Land jüngst eine Einigung zwischen der Regierungsmehrheit und der größten Oppositionsfraktion über den vorausschauenden Schutz des BVerfG vor einer manipulativen Einflussnahme – etwa durch autoritär-illiberale Parteien – erzielt wurde. Sie sieht vor, insbesondere wesentliche Strukturmerkmale des Gerichts über das BVerfGG hinausgehend im Verfassungstext festzuschreiben. Dass hingegen das gesetzliche Zweidrittel-Quorum für die Wahl seiner Richter diesem qualifizierten Änderungsregime nicht unterworfen wird, ist insbesondere mit Blick auf die Gefahr einer (dann sogar verfassungsrechtlich zementierten) Sperrminorität zu begrüßen. Der Verfassungsgeber sollte nicht aus Sorge vor einer denkbaren großen Verfassungskrise das Eintreten kleinerer Verfassungskrisen wahrscheinlicher machen. Der folgende Beitrag ordnet die zwischen den Koalitionsfraktionen und der Unionsfraktion erreichte Einigung auch unter Berücksichtigung der Empfehlungen der Bund-Länder-Arbeitsgruppe „Wehrhafter Rechtsstaat“ ein.

Artificial Intelligence (ai) is on the rise and already affecting parliaments around the world. In the framework of a long-term and on-going research project, a series of interactive workshops have been organized between 2021 and 2023 in three national parliaments, in Greece, Argentina, and Canada, with the objective to assess the relevance and priority of a pre-defined set of 210 proposals, primarily regarding the use of ai-based tools and services in the parliamentary workspace. Reflection groups within each parliament evaluated these proposals providing invaluable results that can be utilized in manifold ways by the institutions, for instance towards structuring digital strategies, designing future it systems, or training intra-parliamentary stakeholders. This article presents a comparative analysis of the results obtained by all three parliaments. The analysis sheds light in a rapidly developing field of disruptive parliamentary technology (ParlTech) that with define the parliaments of the future.

The article analyses the role of parliament in the face of a constitutional crisis, drawing on Poland’s experience from 2015–2023. The issue discussed focuses on the impact of changes to the judiciary and other key democratic institutions, which have resulted in Poland being perceived as a state with illiberal constitutionalism or authoritarian populism. The article emphasises the importance of analysing patterns and scenarios of constitutional crisis, pointing to the ‘avalanche effect’ whereby changes in one country can affect other countries in the region. The paper focuses on the role of the parliament as a key democratic body responding to difficult challenges and attempts to curb violations of the rule of law in Poland. The research objective is to analyse the constitutional mechanisms conducive to the protection of the rule of law during periods of populist rule, and by analysing these aspects, the paper contributes to the debate on the condition of contemporary parliamentarism.

Domestic United Kingdom legislation requires public authorities to act in a way which is compatible with rights under the European Convention on Human Rights . The Human Rights Act 1998 does not specify how this is to be achieved. The UK courts have held at the highest level that, in the realm of qualified rights, it is for them to determine whether interference with a fundamental right is proportionate. In certain contexts, this approach risks the courts interfering with matters of expert judgement which are more properly left to the administrative decision-maker. This article advocates a context-sensitive approach: through examining the law and decisions on land-use planning in England and Wales, it suggests a framework for determining in what contexts the courts’ role in human rights challenges arising from qualified rights should be limited to reviewing the administrator’s decision as to whether the decision is compatible with Convention rights.

This article interrogates how Member States’ constitutional courts make use of the case-law of the European Court of Justice. Instead of focusing on the extreme instances of open backlash, we put forward a data-driven methodological approach to the study of Europeanization of national constitutional courts. Drawing on the use of automatic text analysis, we suggest that searching for the formal citations of the rulings of the European Court of Justice in the constitutional courts’ case-law contributes to nuanced understanding of their role within the EU. By means of a case study of the Czech Constitutional Court's case-law (more than 71 000 decisions issued between the years 2004 and 2022), we demonstrate a way to explore the so far under-researched area of EU law adjudication where the majority of strategic behaviour might be taking place.

Der Beitrag diskutiert die möglichen Vorteile, aber auch Herausforderungen bei der Umsetzung von Bürgerräten in Rechtsetzungsverfahren und beschreibt unter der Prämisse der exekutiven Verfahrenshoheit konkrete Szenarien der Einbeziehung von Bürgerräten. Den Ausgangspunkt bilden Fragen zur institutionellen Verankerung von Bürgerräten auf Bundesebene, zu ihren Aufgaben und Kompetenzen sowie zu ihrem Verhältnis zu anderen demokratischen Institutionen. Darüber hinaus liefert der Beitrag eine praxisorientierte Einschätzung unterschiedlicher Möglichkeiten der Einbeziehung von Bürgerräten in Rechtsetzungsverfahren und fördert die Debatte über die Institutionalisierung von Bürgerräten. Der Fokus liegt auf jenen Phasen eines Rechtsetzungsverfahrens, die von der Exekutive veranlasst und gesteuert werden.

Der globale Zustand der liberalen Demokratie gibt Anlass, das Grundgesetz auf seine Resilienz zu untersuchen. Im Fokus stehen dabei die Essentialia des parlamentarischen Regierungssystems, da weniger die zum Schutz der Verfassung konzipierten Gehalte der wehrhaften Demokratie, als die politischen Institutionen sowie die plurale Parteienlandschaft für die bemerkenswerte Stabilität der politischen Ordnung verantwortlich zeichnen. Aufgrund verschiedener sich wechselseitig bedingender Risikofaktoren sind allerdings zunehmend Tendenzen einer Entparlamentarisierung zu beobachten, die teilweise im Grundgesetz selbst angelegt ist. Um die Marginalisierung des Parlaments aufzuhalten, schlägt dieser Beitrag eine weitreichende parlamentarische Selbstorganisation durch ein Parlamentsfunktionengesetz de lege ferenda vor. Es soll das institutionelle Verhältnis von Bundestag und Bundesregierung durch Ausgestaltung von Parlamentsfunktionen unter Berücksichtigung statusrechtlicher Postulate normieren und zugleich das Parlament als responsives Zentrum der Öffentlichkeit stärken. Hingegen versprechen die oftmals propagierten Bürgerräte vor der Folie der hiesigen Problemwahrnehmung kaum Abhilfe.

Tässä kirjoituksessa käsitellään Euroopan unionin tuomioistuimen (EUT) 11.7.2024 antamaa tuomiota yhdistetyissä asioissa C-554/21, C-622/21 ja C-727/21 (Hann-Invest ja muut, EU:C:2024:594), joka liittyy Kroatian valitusasteen tuomioistuinmenettelyihin. Kysymys koskee erityisesti tilannetta, jossa tuomion rekisteröintituomari, joka ei kuulu ratakisukokoonpanoon, voi vaikuttaa merkittävästi tuomion sisältöön ennen sen julkaisemista. Tuomio liittyy laajemmin tuomioistuinten riippumattomuuteen ja oikeusvaltioperiaatteeseen, ja siinä todetaan, että ratkaisukokoonpanoon kuulumattomien henkilöiden vaikutusvaltaa rajoittavat tietyt edellytykset, jotta oikeusvarmuus ja oikeuskäytännön yhdenmukaisuus voidaan varmista

Kirjoituksessa arvioidaan lisäksi suomalaista sääntelyä EU-oikeuden näkökulmasta ja tuodaan esiin, että suomalainen sääntely on osin ristiriidassa Euroopan unionin tuomioistuimen asettamien vaatimusten kanssa. Suomessa tuomioistuimen sisäisen riippumattomuuden vahvistaminen edellyttäisi lainsäädäntömuutoksia, joissa jouduttaisiin ratkaisemaan, millä mekanismilla tuomioistuimen sisäistä riippumattomuutta vaarantamatta parhaalla tavalla edistetään muun ohella oikeuskäytännön yhdenmukaisuutta ja oikeusvarmuutta

Based on a recently published English-language global database on constitutional case law linked to the global pandemic, my contribution aims at analysing the currently underestimated link between constitutional review and the emergency operation of parliaments. Although the fact, that huge research endeavors have been devoted to the evaluation of parliamentary solutions adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic, the role of constitutional review has not been understood more deeply in this process until now. However, several constitutional constitutional courts have heard significant matters of parliamentary law during and shortly after the public health emergency, and despite the mostly deferential character of constitutional/supreme courts, the relevant rulings from around the world provided meaningful orientations how to describe rliamentary margin of movement to regulate internal structure and organisation during such extraordinary periods. This contribution will enumerate such constitutional/supreme court decisions and will assess their added value to maintain effective parliamentary work under the shadow of unprecedented challenges.

Der Grundsatz der Verhältnismäßigkeit ist prominenter Gegenstand verfassungsrechtlicher Forschung. Annahmen über seine Bedeutung und Entwicklung in der Verfassungsrechtsprechung stützen sich jedoch zumeist auf selektiv kanonisiertes Material. Umfassende Auswertungen der Rechtsprechungspraxis finden sich dagegen selten. Dem wollen wir eine Untersuchung der Verhältnismäßigkeitsprüfung auf Grundlage von 300 zufällig aus der gesamten Senatsrechtsprechung ausgewählten Entscheidungen entgegenstellen. Wir überprüfen, ob sich auch aus diesem Blickwinkel die in der verfassungsrechtlichen Literatur proklamierte Dominanz des Grundsatzes der Verhältnismäßigkeit zeigt und seine Verwendung die ihm zugeschriebene institutionelle Bedeutung trägt.

Die Rolle von (Verfassungs-)Gerichten in der Demokratie wird viel diskutiert und hinterfragt. Nun werden auch hier mit Blick auf den Klimawandel neue Entwicklungen angestoßen: Gerichte treten zunehmend als Akteure auf den Plan. Angesichts drohender Krisen verwirklicht sich ein bisher unterbelichtetes Potential: Der Zugang zu Gericht kann gesellschaftliche Teilhabe ermöglichen. Die KlimaSeniorinnen-Entscheidung des EGMR und auch der Klimabeschluss des BVerfG lassen sich in diesem Sinne deuten.

Gesetzentwürfe werden in Deutschland in der großen Zahl der Fälle von der Ministerialbürokratie erstellt. Die Gemeinsame Geschäftsordnung der Bundesregierung enthält dafür formale Regeln. Gelegentlich werden jedoch auch Private zu Entwurfsverfassern – sei es, weil sie von amtlichen Stellen beauftragt werden, sei es aus eigener Initiative. Einen Rechtsrahmen gibt es dazu nur ganz ausnahmsweise. Private können in diesem Zusammenhang Hochschullehrer („Professorenentwürfe“), Bürgerinitiativen oder politische Parteien sein. Der Beitrag untersucht, welche Formen privater Gesetzentwürfe in historischer wie aktueller Perspektive existieren, in welchen Situationen sie entstehen und welche Funktionen sie haben.

Die Einleitung eines Verwirkungsverfahrens nach Art. 18 GG zulasten von Abgeordneten hat erhebliche Bedeutung für den Abgeordneten selbst, die Demokratie, die Gewaltenteilung sowie das bundesstaatliche Gefüge. Während Art. 46 Abs. 3 Var. 2 GG dem Bundestag ausdrücklich eine Einflussmöglichkeit zubilligt, ist die Rechtslage für die Landesparlamente weniger eindeutig. Die Literatur schweigt zu dem Thema größtenteils. Dieser Beitrag versucht nachzuweisen, dass einem betroffenen Landesparlament aus dem Gebot der Bundestreue heraus wenigstens ein Konsultationsrecht zugebilligt werden muss. Ferner können die Länder (relative) Genehmigungsvorbehalte in ihren Verfassungen vorsehen. Von dieser Möglichkeit haben bisher nur Berlin und Niedersachsen Gebrauch gemacht.

Nach hergebrachter Auffassung kann eine Regierung ihrer Steuerungsaufgabe nur nachkommen, wenn sie ihre Pläne verlässlich in Gesetze umwandeln kann. „Gouver-er c’est légiférer“ lautet die von René Capitant hierzu geprägte Formel. Der unsichere Zugriff auf die Gesetzgebungsmacht ist im parlamentarischen Regierungssystem daher stets ein zentrales Argument gegen die Bildung von Minderheitsregierungen. Zwar steht unter der Minderheitsregierung die Gesetzgebungsmaschine nicht zwingend still. Manches mag sich konsensual oder mit wechselnden Mehrheiten erledigen lassen, insbesondere wenn die Opposition gespalten ist. Doch ihre Kernagenda und Reformen, die ernsthafte politische Kosten verursachen, kann eine Minderheitsregierung – so die verbreitete Annahme – nicht verwirklichen, ohne an die Grenzen des Mehrheitsprinzips zu stoßen.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

In den aktuellen Diskussionen zum nationalen Arbeitskampfrecht wird vielfach ein arbeitsvölkerrechtlicher Veränderungsdruck postuliert. Der Beitrag wirft vor diesem Hintergrund ein Schlaglicht auf zwei aktuelle Verfahren in Straßburg und Den Haag. Analysiert wird neben der bereits ergangenen EGMR-Entscheidung zum deutschen Beamtenstreikverbot auch das laufende IGH-Verfahren zur Reichweite der ILO-Konvention Nr. 87. Dabei zeigen sich gegenläufige Entwicklungstendenzen. Während sich der EGMR jüngst offen für Differenzierungen und Kontextualisierungen bei der Beurteilung nationaler Rechtssysteme gezeigt hat, könnte das IGH-Verfahren der äußerst expansiven Spruchpraxis der ILO-Kontrollgremien zu einer bislang ungekannten Bedeutung verhelfen.

Pay-or-consent (‘Want to subscribe or continue using our Products for free with ads?’) is the dilemma facing Facebook and Instagram users since November 2023. This innovation primarily follows the Court of Justice’s strict interpretation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Meta v. Bundeskartellamt, which ruled on several controversial issues of the data economy. These include the conditions for the lawfulness of processing users’ personal data to finance ‘free’ social network services, the assessment of users’ freely given consent as a prerequisite for access to a dominant platform service, and the admissibility of incidental findings of GDPR infringements by national competition authorities when assessing abuse of dominance cases.
The article analyses the contract law implications of the decision, which recognizes that the provision of services in exchange for personal data is not inherently incompatible with the GDPR. Simultaneously, it imposes strict conditions that require dominant platforms, such as Meta’s social networks, to offer users an equivalent service without targeted advertising, to preserve their freedom to consent to data processing. To avoid undermining entrepreneurial freedom, such an alternative can be provided, if necessary, for an appropriate fee, as Facebook and Instagram have recently done in Europe, opening up new problematic scenarios for scholars to address. This article then focuses on the conditions that ensure a real choice between payment and consent, examining what constitutes an appropriate fee and when it is necessary. We conclude that the payor- okay model needs to be adapted for GDPR compliance, offering users differentiated options beyond the all-or-nothing approach to ensure that their choice is free and specific.

The scope of application of the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (UCTD) is defined as ‘delicate compromises between the legal traditions of different Member States’. These compromises are the results of the alignment of various national models of regulation of the unfairness control of contract terms based on different approaches (market oriented approach or consumer/weaker-party-protection approach). In that sense, the scope of application of the UCTD is the reflection of some kind of balancing between various goals it was meant to achieve – the establishment and the functioning of the internal market based on free competition, private autonomy, freedom of contracting and ensuring, at the same time, a high level of consumer protection when entering into consumer contracts. However, a question arises whether all those compromises, negotiated over thirty years ago, when the rules on the scope of application of the UCTD were drafted, could even today be regarded as the optimum balance between the values the UCTD was meant to protect. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has up to now been in situations, in as many as several hundreds of cases, to interpret the UCTD, including its provisions on the scope of application. The text analyses the current trends in the interpretations of the scope of application of the UCTD in the case law of the ECJ. The main goal has been to highlight the arguments by which the Court has interpreted the Directive’s scope of application and to see whether there are any new tendencies in the case law of the ECJ when interpreting the UCTD by showing that, in practice, both its personal and material scopes of application have changed, and if that is the case, in what direction these changes are going.

This article first sets out some views on the objectives and the functions of Directive 93/13/ EEC on Unfair Contract Terms (UCTD). This is then compared with the way in which the UCTD is applied, using selected examples from the case law of the ECJ, in particular characteristic judgments on the transparency of terms, the fairness of terms and the effect of the unfairness of individual terms on the remainder of the contract. The aim is to outline the general function of the UCTD in the system of contract law, consumer protection and civil justice, as well as the underlying notion of the role of the judge. The core thesis is that the main objective of the UCTD, from a regulatory point of view, is to create a judicial or administrative fairness corrective to the unilateral power to draft contractual terms that private law grants to businesses towards consumers in the formation of a contract.

Die Schuldrechtsreform hat § 323 BGB und § 281 BGB als Kernvorschriften für den Rücktritt und den Schadensersatz statt der Leistung etabliert. Abgesehen vom Verschuldenserfordernis für den Schadensersatz sind beide Vorschriften ähnlich konzipiert. Unklar bleibt hingegen die Fokussierung von § 323 BGB auf den gegenseitigen Vertrag. Der Beitrag hinterfragt diese Unterscheidung und gelangt de lege lata zu einer Rechtsharmonisierung, die de lege ferenda in einen Vorschlag zur Reform von § 323 BGB mündet.

Täisteksti saab lugeda siit.

Cartel busting often results in the restructuring of boards of directors, presumably to remove individuals (both executive and non-executive members) who may have been involved in the cartel. This study employs 2 exogenous changes ‒ cartel busting and binding board gender quotas policies ‒ to examine their impact on board gender composition using DiD and Staggered DiD methods. In countries with binding quotas, boards are already undergoing restructuring to include more women, even without the shock of cartel busting. Furthermore, boards increase the percentage of women in non-cartelized firms only when countries introduce binding gender quotas. Binding board gender quota regulations are effective in improving gender balance on corporate boards. Additionally, in countries without binding board gender quotas, only firms sanctioned for cartel conduct show an increase in the percentage of women after cartel busting, compared to non-sanctioned firms. Thus, board gender quota regulations and anti-cartel policies interact to influence the gender composition of sanctioned firms: binding gender policies are effective in achieving more balanced board gender composition, and cartel busting drives more balanced boards in sanctioned firms regardless of whether their countries have binding board quota regulations or not.

The last decade has seen a significant increase in new product lines in ‘smart’ consumer products. These products have been manufactured and released in the wake of technological developments allowing for everyday objects and environments to be computerised and connected to the Internet. Some of these new products will inevitably contain or develop defects compromising their function, and when they are discarded they have the potential to add substantially to the ever-growing global e-waste problem. A stronger right to repair, particularly in the context of these new products, would assist in reducing e-waste, promoting sustainability, and growing a circular economy. This paper examines the recommendations of the recent Australian Productivity Commission Inquiry regarding the ‘right to repair’ through the lens of sustainability principles for consumer products agreed upon by the United Nations. The Productivity Commission’s recommendations unfortunately contain some significant gaps in relation to reducing e-waste and promoting sustainable production and consumption. However, some significant lessons can be learned by the international community from the Australian experience.

At the beginning of Henry VIII’s reign, the prosecution of heresy was based on three statutes of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. Under this system, the Church tried the crime with the assistance of secular authority. Juries presented suspects, whose cases were then transferred to the church courts for determination. In 1532, the Supplication against the Ordinaries challenged the conduct of heresy trials. It invoked common-law principles about due process and standards of proof. Two years later, a new statute modified the system, although less drastically than had been proposed. The royal supremacy and new religious policies changed the context in which heresy was prosecuted. Up until 1539, however, the church courts still determined accusations. Thereafter, in the case of specified heresies, the Act of Six Articles made lay juries responsible for determining guilt or innocence. Commissions under this act combined elements of canon law and common law. These reforms were, however, not seen to have improved the conduct of heresy trials. It proved easier to criticize the traditional method of prosecution than to devise a better one.

This article explores the under-researched area of fraud in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Fraud offences rarely feature in criminal law historiography, and where they do, they are positioned as an afterthought to theft and forgery. This article redresses this oversight and presents an in-depth analysis of eighteenth-century jurisprudence around frauds, providing a long-overdue mapping of the most common offences within this diffuse area of law. This article reveals the ways in which fraud offences were situated in the wider criminal law, and how frauds interacted with other property offences. This article maps the contours of the emerging modern offence of fraud, and in doing so makes the case for a rethinking of the significance of the criminal law of fraud and its place in the development of the modern criminal law. Finally, by assessing the ways in which fraud straddled the line between felony and misdemeanour, this article provides a lens through which to better understand eighteenth and early nineteenth century criminal procedure.

This article examines the foundations of bankruptcy law in England. Rather than looking at the bankruptcy statutes that were aimed at fraudulent insolvent debtors, it analyses debt settlements of honest insolvent debtors awarded by the court of Chancery between 1543 and 1628. It shows that these agreements were not only aimed at relieving creditors, but also financially rehabilitated debtors if they had become insolvent for reasons beyond their own control. Most debt settlements in the period were awarded following a bill of conformity procedure, in which a minority of creditors could be forced to agree to a settlement. Up to 1621 it was standard practice for debt settlements to include financial rehabilitation. The Chancery ordered delay of payment, part and full discharges of debts or alternative payment plans. Political struggles and fraudulent practices in the early 1620s ended this highly pragmatic practice, which was only to be restored centuries later.

Emotionen und Gefühle gehören zweifelsohne zum Menschsein. Gleichwohl führten sie in vielen Wissenschaften über mehrere Jahrhunderte ein Schattendasein. In jüngerer Zeit erleben wir jedoch nicht nur in der gesellschaftlichen Debatte eine stärkere Akzentuierung der Emotionalität des Menschen, wie sich etwa an einer verstärkten sozialen (und in der Folge auch: rechtlichen) Ächtung emotional verletzender Handlungen und Äußerungen (Stichwort: „Hate Speech“)
und einer gleichzeitigen jedenfalls symbolischen gesellschaftlichen Aufwertung emotionaler Kompetenzen („EQ“) zeigen lässt. Es scheint fast, als würde die Emotion aus dem Reich des Niederen, Biologisch-Animalischen in den Rang einer Tugend erhoben. Nicht selten werden diese Bemühungen jedoch eher kritisch aufgenommen und als „moderne Empfindlichkeit“ abgetan.

Wollte man das Weltbild, das die Rechtswissenschaft der Gegenwart prägt, in we-
nigen Worten zusammenfassen, so würde man wahrscheinlich eine „entzauberte“
Welt im Sinne Max Webers beschreiben, in der Intellektualisierung und Rationalisie-
rung die Geister und die magischen Mittel vertrieben haben und das leitende Hand-
lungsparadigma dasjenige der Rationalität ist. Diese Annahme gilt in besonderer
Weise für die Verfassungsrechtswissenschaft des demokratischen Verfassungsstaates. Denn in der staatsrechtlichen Rekonstruktion zeichnet sich die Demokratie gerade in besonderer Weise durch ihr aufklärerisches und rationalisierendes Potential aus. Insbesondere in den Modellen deliberativer Demokratie dominiert insofern die Vorstellung, dass sich die demokratische Auseinandersetzung als kooperative Wahrheitssuche gestaltet, in der der zwanglose Zwang des besseren Arguments am Ende zum richtigen, zum rationalen Ergebnis führt. [---]