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The article "Constitutional Justice in the European Legal Space" analyzes the transformation of public law in Europe and the existence of a European legal space. It highlights the importance of cooperation between constitutional institutions in Europe and the need to address differences in the European legal space. It also mentions the independence of judicial bodies and the protection of fundamental rights. The article discusses the political and advisory function of the Council in France when the President of the Republic exercises exceptional powers. It also examines the interaction between the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, emphasizing the importance of cooperation between national judges and these international courts. Overall, it emphasizes the importance of judicial dialogue in the European context and advocates for the construction of a European legal space based on the rule of law and judicial independence. [Extracted from the article]

The special constitutional relevance is a critic dialogical instrument from the perspective of multilevel constitutionalism and, especially, is a privileged conversational element between the Spanish Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights. The need to adapt the constitutional jurisprudence of the Spanish Constitutional Court to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights as a cause of special constitutional relevance institutionalizes a practice already followed by the Constitutional Court by virtue of art 10.2 of the Spanish Constitution. Now, in addition, two further aspects are incorporated: a principle of collaboration between the appellants in amparo and the Court in the detection of new developments in the international systems, and the reinforcement of the Constitutional Court as a principal mean for channeling the European jurisprudence to ordinary justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Article aims firstly at presenting the specific status of the Portuguese Constitutional Court according to the Constitution, its preeminent role within the Portuguese constitutionality review system, as well as the very wide range of competences of the Court that have increased in the past years. Secondly, it addresses four decades of its judicial activity, by highlighting some statistical data as well as some case-law cornerstones -- illustrating both the diversity of constitutional issues address and its relevance in protecting fundamental rights. Lastly, the text focus on some of the current juridical problematic issues with which the Court has been and is confronted, including regarding international and European Law, that may eventually lead to some modification of the legal rules in force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is a review of the monograph "Regularizations of irregular migrants in the EU. A comparative legal analysis of Austria, Germany, and Spain" written by Kevin Fredy Hinterberger. The author highlights the importance of investigating the regularization processes of immigrants in the context of the European Union and analyzes the procedures established by these three countries in their domestic law. The article emphasizes the relevance and complexity of this work, as well as the need to adopt a humane view of migration and recognize the rights of migrants. The author raises three main questions: the regularization processes in Austria, Germany, and Spain, how regularization can be used as an effective regulatory tool, and whether harmonization of regularization mechanisms at the EU level would be advantageous. The author proposes a Regularization Directive that would require Member States to harmonize their domestic legislation on the matter. The study demonstrates that there is no single possible answer and that regularization is a more humane and effective solution. [Extracted from the article]

The rights of LGTBI people are topical in 21st century society. It is our aim to study the regulations on sexual orientation and gender identity in Northern European countries (United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). We will focus on the extent to which the right to gender reassignment is recognised in national laws, and whether or not these laws respect the European Convention on Human Rights and European Union law, through the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Romanian Case Law Review / Revista Română de Jurisprudenţă is the property of Universul Juridic Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The relationship between data and European law is characterised by two objectives that need to be balanced: data protection and the free movement of data. This article analyses the influence of the Data Act on this balance. It argues that the Data Act will not significantly shift the balance by itself. Like the Data Governance Act, the Data Act primarily contains frameworks that apply when data are shared. However, the obligations and incentives to use these frameworks remain relatively limited. The strict rules of the GDPR are not affected. This does not mean that the Data Act cannot play a meaningful role in the future. The Data Act is part of the broader European strategy for data. The extensive frameworks are not just meant for a few specific obligations to share data. They provide a foundation. It is up to other instruments, such as the European data spaces, to build on this foundation. The impact of the Data Act on the balance between data protection and the free movement of data is therefore not set in stone. It depends on the success and further elaboration and implementation of the European strategy for data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Administración Pública is the property of Centro de Estudios Politicos y Constitucionales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ukraine is currently carrying out some reforms recommended by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and by the European Commission (in order to become a Member State of the European Union), in order to strengthen democracy, the Rule of Law, human rights and protection of minorities. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that legislative drafting techniques are a means to give effect to the principle of the Rule of Law, when it comes to Ukraine; and to recommend that Ukraine improves the way its institutions draft/scrutinise bills, and a dopts best practices from Europe. The methods of this article will be those of an analysis of constitutional law. The article will rely on the definition of the principle of the Rule of Law (given by AV. Dicey and developed by Lord Bingham) and the idea that legislative drafting techniques can be seen as a means to give effect to such a principle. The Ukrainian current constitutional context (viz., the impossibility of amending its Constitution under martial law, due to Article 157 of the Constitution of Ukraine) will be considered. Some pieces of Ukrainian legislation will be analysed in the light of the Venice Commission’s recommendations. Some of the main legislative drafting techniques and their aims, in the light of the best practices from Europe, will also be analysed. The results of the article will set out that in such a current constitutional context, where the recommended reforms can be implemented only by Acts of Parliament (although some amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution would be appropriate), in Ukraine the quality of primary legislation becomes crucial to give effect to the Rule of Law. Therefore, the scientific novelty of the article will be to test general concepts with regards to the exceptional constitutional circumstances of Ukraine. The conclusions, thus, is that Ukrainian institutions (such as the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the President of the Republic of Ukraine) should improve the way they draft/scrutinise bills, adopting best practices from Europe, in order to improve the quality of primary legislation and, thus, to give ef fect to the principle of the Rule of Law . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Foreign whistleblowers are foreign citizens who help national enforcement authorities to sanction both foreign-based corporations and home-based corporations that engage in economic crime. This paper aims to investigate the expansion of US law in the area of transnational economic crime by discussing the case of foreign whistleblowers. Design/methodology/approach: This paper has been developed from a literature review carried out as part of a wider study into policing international bribery. Findings: This paper shows that extraterritorial application of US whistleblowing laws is part of a broad trend associated with extraterritorial enforcement of US anti-corruption statutes such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The extraterritorial reach of the FCPA and other statutes allowed the USA to become the leader in sanctioning US corporations as well as non-US corporations for economic crime. In effect, some US enforcement practices have become the standard that has influenced law and law enforcement in other countries as well as internal compliance of corporations. Originality/value: In spite of the profound impact foreign whistleblowing has on the effectiveness of national anti-corruption enforcement, this topic has been largely neglected by academic research. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to provide an overview of the role of foreign whistleblowers and the significant impact foreign whistleblowing has for legal reform in European countries and internal compliance of corporations in Europe and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal servitudes are property law institutes with roots in Roman Law. Contemporary property law systems in Europe have accepted this institute originating from Roman law, and have adapted it so that it can be incorporated within their national legislations. The paper aims to examine and analyze how personal servitudes have been adapted and incorporated into the national legislation of European countries and how the different trajectories of development of national legislation have affected that incorporation. Drawing from the similarities and differences in the regulation of personal servitudes in different legal systems, the paper also aims to identify the common characteristics of personal servitudes in contemporary property law systems in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the environment increasingly emerges as a global concern, international entities like the European Union have set forth minimum standards to address cross-border environmental impacts. Even though these standards are binding only for the EU Member States, they are also being followed from the potential candidate states like the Republic of Kosovo as a path towards their accession in the European Union organization. This article analyses exactly this issue, the harmonization and implementation of European Union Legal Instruments in the national level. The article offers a three dimensional analysis of the Environmental National Legislation, respectively its adoption and harmonization with EU standards, its implementation and lastly its criminalization in order of guaranteeing its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution addresses the intersection of international human rights law and international economic law in situations where investors can bring claims under both protection systems. It discusses why multiple proceedings concerning one set of facts may be problematic and identifies situations in which duplication may occur. It presents instruments that have been developed at the domestic or international level to prevent this phenomenon. The article analyses the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) as well as of investment arbitral tribunals dealing with parallel or subsequent litigations. The conclusions set out whether the mechanisms used by arbitral tribunals and the ECtHR are adequate to deal with the phenomenon of potential multiple proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Derecho Comunitario Europeo is the property of Centro de Estudios Politicos y Constitucionales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Femina Politica is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The text discusses a legal case in the Netherlands involving Deliveroo's meal delivery drivers and the classification of their employment relationship. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision that the drivers were employees, considering various factors such as work nature, payment, and entrepreneurial behavior. The decision highlights the need for a holistic approach in determining employment contracts, with implications for legal certainty and ongoing legislative developments in the Netherlands. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Revista del Instituto Colombiano de Derecho Procesal is the property of Instituto Colombiano de Derecho Procesal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article analyzes the use of precedent by the European Court of Human Rights. It examines the various types of precedents in the practice of the Court and how they are utilized. It discusses different methods of development of case law, including overruling precedents, branching of the case law, and fragmentation of the case law. The article also proposes guidelines for the orderly development of case law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the EU directive as a fundamental source of EU law, examining its characteristics, and also its direct and indirect effects. Directives play a crucial role in harmonizing national legislations and promoting legal coherence within the European Union. Additionally, the article discusses the indirect effect of directives, which requires member states to interpret and apply their national laws in line with the objectives of the relevant directive. This principle fosters consistency and alignment between national legislation and EU law, even in the absence of explicit provisions in the national legal framework. The article also refers to the significant case law of the European Court of Justice, illustrating the application of the direct and indirect effects of directives in specific legal disputes. These landmark cases demonstrate the Court's role in interpreting and clarifying the scope and implications of the direct and indirect effects, further shaping the legal landscape of EU law. Overall, the EU directive serves as a vital instrument for the development and enforcement of EU law. It empowers individuals, harmonizes national legal systems, and contributes to legal consistency and the protection of individual rights within the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of A&C - Administrative & Constitutional Law Review - Revista de Direito Administrativo e Constitucional is the property of A&C - Revista de Direito Administrativo & Constitucional (Instituto Bacellar) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Przeglad Sejmowy is the property of Kancelaria Sejmu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The European Union (EU) is a remarkable example of a supranational organisation in the 21st century political world, where its 27 Member States share power and resources to pursue common economic, environmental, political, and social goals. However, in recent years, it has encountered a myriad of challenges that fracture its structure and competency. This paper examines two such momentous case studies, the Migration Crisis and COVID-19, through a legal and political lens. The research, consisting of legislation and case law, finds systemic flaws within the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and inefficiency caused by bureaucracy that sometimes causes a stalemate. On the other hand, the initial response to COVID-19 discloses unknown weaknesses in the EU’s ability to act as a collective union towards human health. The paper evaluates the successes and limitations of specific developments to EU law, including directives, economic mechanisms, and financial agreements, showcasing the workings of EU policy making and its impact on Member States. Then, the paper discusses the political implications of these legal developments and their role in redefining human rights for the EU in the 21st century. The paper concludes that the EU’s future relies on addressing the political implications of EU law that are essential to reinforce the EU’s role in crisis management and to better equip it to promote human development.

The status of Ukraine as a candidate country for the European Union membership reinforces the need for comparative analysis between Ukrainian regulations and law of other EU Member States as well as European regulations. One of the fields of comparative law is a development of mediation for disputes covered by administrative law. It has already been a subject of interest and promotion to both – The EU and the Council of Europe, since European standards of democracy provide for state cooperate with citizens/individuals. The aim of this article is, to examine the main provisions, recommendations and best practices of the CoE member states, and to analyse the current practice and existing gaps in Ukraine in order to develop a proposal for effective implementation in the light of the most recent CEPEJ Guidelines promoting mediation to resolve administrative disputes. A comparative overview of this type of mediation regulations may be considered as novum. As for methodology, the paper is dominated by the logical-linguistic and comparative method. So far – though Ukrainian legal system is quite compatibile with the examined CEPEJ gudelines and provide for inter-branch solutions – the development of administrative and court-administrative mediation is quite resilient and there is still much to be done not solely with legal regulations, but also „mediation culture” in such field.

The autonomy and independence of civil law in relation to canon law, especially in those countries where these legal systems meet in the drafting and application of international agreements of the concordat type, are not entirely simple questions maintaining both - national and international dimensions. The first level question seems to be the reception of canon law by civil law in the view of the principle of independence and autonomy of state legal systems. The second level question is the validity and effectiveness of international bilateral human rights rules agreed with the Holy See. Many multilateral international treaties of universal and regional nature on human rights, especially in the areas of protection of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, generally regulate the legal relations, but specific regulation of concordats is also appropriate, sometimes complementary, and sometimes primary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decision in the case of Halet v. Luxembourg can be considered quite crucial in the field of whistleblowing, as it significantly redefines the conditions and procedure for granting protection to whistleblowers within the meaning of the Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, while expanding the range of cases where protection can be granted. However, the consequence of this decision is also a significant reduction of predictability, for both the whistleblowers themselves as well as for the persons whose conduct is reported. This paper aims to analyse the decision itself, to define its rudimentary argumentative elements and to discuss issues arising from the decision, as well as the possible effects that the decision may have on the application practice.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has clarified the applicability of European Union law to collective redundancies. In a recent case, the ECJ ruled that the concept of “collective redundancies” should be interpreted broadly to cover both direct and indirect terminations. The Court emphasized that national legislation must include assimilated terminations into the definition of collective redundancies provided by EU law to ensure effective protection for workers. The contribution underlines the existing contrast between the above-mentioned European category and the one built by the Italian legal order with respect to the domestic jurisprudential interpretation.

Objective: to identify the possibilities for an adequate response of the existing legal regime to the various challenges posed to European law by artificial intelligence systems underlying neuromarketing techniques.Methods: the study is based on the risk-oriented approach, formal-logical, formal-legal and comparative-legal methods, as well as on the method of legal forecasting, in order to identify the problems of legislation caused by the emerging technologies capable of recognizing human emotions and using them to control consumer behavior, and to propose ways to solve them.Results: the conducted research provides a brief overview of the most widely used neuromarketing techniques used by algorithms and machine learning. These allow identifying points of cognitive and emotional vulnerability, collecting and processing data, and then building the most effective marketing techniques that push a consumer to choose a certain product or service. Ethical problems are analyzed which arise from the use of neuromarketing techniques in relation to some basic values such as individual independence, human dignity, and freedom of choice. The subtle line is shown between techniques that manipulate consumer behavior (manipulation technique) and those that, on the contrary, have a persuasive effect, which in itself does not make them illegal (persuasion technique). An overview of the existing legal framework is presented, as well as case law from both the European Court of Justice and national courts of member states with a particular focus on the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, the EU General Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data (hard law), and codes of ethics (soft law).Scientific novelty: the paper points out the transformation of traditional legal categories and important problem points of the existing regulation due to the growing recognition of the potential of neuromarketing as a tool capable of explaining and predicting consumer behavior, as well as influencing the economic behavior of the subjects of relations.Practical significance: the obtained conclusions and proposals can be taken into account in improving the regulation of artificial intelligence in terms of its safety and reliability, increasing trust in the system, given the need to protect ethical principles and maintain fundamental values.

Assessing damages in follow-on actions against cartels that have infringed EU or domestic antitrust law is still in its infancy in Europe. This Article highlights the reasons why this issue has only recently started reaching the courts and analyses the pitfalls and problems courts face when calculating or estimating the amount of loss caused by a cartel to individual plaintiffs. As this endeavour raises complex economic questions, the Article outlines the basic economic approaches to measure antitrust harm and derives general principles from EU law on how courts should deal with economic evidence in follow-on actions to ensure an effective enforcement of competition law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product liability has been, and continues to be, a problematic area in Turkish law. Prior to legislative attempts to introduce strict product liability, producers could only be held liable based on their fault. Although liability based on fault cannot provide appropriate solutions to all product liability problems, the Turkish Court of Cassation was in the process of establishing case law that was suitable to most product liability issues. However, this development was interrupted by problematic legislative attempts to introduce strict product liability, which became the focus of academic literature on product liability. The final of these legislation attempts is the Product Safety and Technical Regulations Act of 2020. In this Act, product liability and product safety rules are intertwined with each other. This is problematic for product liability provisions, since concepts and rules that should remain in product safety law are transferred to product liability law. The Act claims to be in line with the Product Liability Directive of 1985. However, this is far from accurate. The Act fails to harmonise Turkish law with the Product Liability Directive of 1985, let alone offer solutions to problems that have become apparent since 1985. This article attempts to highlight the product liability issues caused by the Act and interpret its provisions in a manner that is as compatible with European law as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human oversight has been much stressed and discussed as a safeguarding measure to ensure human centrism in AI deployment. Through its proposal of a new EU Artificial Intelligence Act, the Commission is breaking new ground by promoting the introduction of the first general and sharp worded human oversight requirement over AI systems in European law. This Article discusses the content, limitations and implications of this oversight requirement. It does this by addressing the questions of what the Regulation prescribes on 'what' is to be overviewed, 'when' the overview is to be exercised and 'by whom'. The article points to some of the AIA's unclarities and gaps, and to the implications of vesting too much trust in providers to secure the oversight infrastructure of high-risk AI systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European 'messianic' project was not particularly concerned with democracy or human rights, but rather sought 'legitimacy' in the nobility of its cause. However, when failure struck during the Euro-crisis, many sources of legitimacy suddenly collapsed. Similarly, failure struck the rule of law principle, demonstrating its precariousness and weak source of legitimation. The strong waves of de-europeanisation and the rise of illiberal democracies not only bolster the existing preoccupations of problematic democratic procedures, but further bring into question the continuity of the EU as a supranational entity. Interestingly, the European Union's answer to these issues furnishes a solution that, on the one hand, focuses on the enhancement of democracy, while focusing the safeguarding of rule of law on the other. Such an enhancement of democracy could be the result of the Conference on the Future of Europe, whereas, the rule of law crisis is meant to be addressed through financial and techno-managerial mechanisms. However, if the first mechanism aims to palliate or even mitigate the democratic deficit, the second one risks further alienating Union citizens by seeing in it another instance of European Union 'technocracy'. The solution to be foreseen is to reconnect democracy with rule of law as they have always been the foreign implants of European integration. Filling in these empty gaps of political messianism through an outright pairing of democracy and rule of law will rejuvenate the social legitimacy of European exceptionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European legal framework is not devoid of norms that are directly or indirectly applicable to facial recognition technology for identification purposes within law enforcement. However, these various norms, which have different targets and are from multiple sources, create a kind of legal patchwork that could undermine the lawful use of this technology in criminal investigations. This paper advocates the creation of a specific law on the use of facial recognition technology for identification in law enforcement, based on existing regulations, to specifically address the pressing issues arising in this domain. The ultimate aim is to allow its use under certain conditions and to protect the rights of the people involved, but also to provide law enforcement authorities with the necessary tools to combat serious crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Directive 2000/78/EC regulates age discrimination within the European Union. The challenge posed by this legislation is to define the "how and why" of the age protection and to balance equality with economic interests. The Gordian knot is here represented by Article 6 of the Directive, which allows Member States to justify age discrimination when a legitimate aim is provided, and the means chosen to achieve that aim are proportionate and necessary. The implementation of Article 6 by Member States led to contrasting interpretations that define age equality both as a social priority and an obstacle to the economic growth. Member States have therefore referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to seek a harmonious interpretation of age protection, but the judgments of the Court eventually reveal how the conflict between equality and economic interests is far from being solved. This article discusses these jurisprudential developments and demonstrates how the principle of proportionality applied by the Court is influenced by market-based tendencies that dissolve that "Aristotelian" idea of equality. Consequently, cases are holistically compared on a cross-case level to contribute to a normative theory able to combine age justifications with the common principles and values that underlie European legislations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In Czech private international law, the applicable law for property relations of spouses and registered partners is regulated differently. The rapid development in the legal regulation of same-sex marriages causes a division in the jurisdictions among the EU Member States as well as a non-uniform approach in the norms of private international law. Given that same-sex marriage is not legalized in the Czech Republic, a problem of classification arises in Czech private international law. The paper will focus on the question of classification of the property regime of same-sex couples who have entered into marriage in one of the states that admit such unions, and the solution to this problem of classification will be examined both at the national and EU levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The institution of mitigating and aggravating circumstances represents one of the main pillars of the judicial individualization of the criminal sanction in any modern criminal law system, from which European law is no exception. Such a representative legal system is also the Italian one, which was, along with other systems, a source of inspiration for the legislator of the new Romanian Penal Code, in force starting from 1 February 2014, as is clear from the statement of reasons itself accompany. As such, from the reading of the regulations of the Italian Criminal Code, it can be noted the existence of some similarities in terms of the definition of circumstances, including at the level of specialized literature, their classification under legal and doctrinal aspects, the express listing of mitigating circumstances – legal (common) or judicial (general) – and aggravating, the judge’s obligation to motivate the retention or non-retention of the circumstances, to avoid an arbitrium judicis on his part – in favour of a giudizio di bilanciamento, or the recognition of the general criteria for individualizing the punishment. In addition, the Italian legislator also regulates the category of circumstances excluding the penalty, which are used in the same way as mitigating circumstances, with the effect of excluding the illegality of the act. However, there are specific legislative peculiarities, for example in terms of the effects attributed by the legislator and the margin of appreciation of the judge of the case, the express regulation of mitigating and aggravating circumstances under the condition of not providing for the same circumstances as constitutive elements of the crime or as special circumstances, a restriction that has generated some divergences in Italian jurisprudence and doctrine regarding the scope of delimitation of these institutions, or in relation to neighbouring ones, such as that of the criteria for the individualization of punishment. At the same time, the Italian legislator expressly specifies that the lack of criminal history cannot be assimilated to a judicial mitigating circumstance, and the main aggravating circumstance in Italian criminal law is recidivism, as it has some particular effects, such as the establishment of minimum punishment thresholds below which the judge cannot go regardless by the number of circumstances favourable to the criminal agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the weaknesses of general principles of EU law and the need for their re-evaluation. It discusses different perspectives and voices calling for change, including critical traditions, transformative law of political economy, doctrinal constructivism, and social law scholars. The article emphasizes the importance of examining the conceptual and constitutional foundations of EU law and suggests that legal scholars have an opportunity to provide a more solid scholarly foundation. It also discusses various legal and political issues related to European law, such as the role of civil courts, the influence of trade unions and academic actors, the impact of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the intensity of judicial review, and the concept of servitisation. The text concludes by highlighting the need for a global perspective in European jurists' engagement with legal and political issues. [Extracted from the article]

This Article addresses the question of how to explain and justify the allocation of politically sensitive legal questions to civil courts in the European Union. It proposes a pluralist theoretical view on interactions of private law adjudication with legislative initiatives in the process of building a European political community. This is elaborated on the basis of a reconstruction of the interaction between judicial and legislative processes in three high-profile cases (concerning non-discrimination, housing and climate change) in light of three theoretical perspectives: social justice, constitutionalism and public sphere theory. The first two perspectives shed light on the legal-political dimension of private legal questions in the European Union and manners in which to handle the plurality of sources and institutions in this field. They do, however, not fully clarify the distinction and relation between Habermasian discourses of justification and discourses of application of law in European Private Law adjudication. The Article suggests that public sphere theory, with a basis in Fraser's work on transnationalisation, can complement the theoretical understanding of the role of judges in European Private Law. It is submitted that the interaction between national and European levels of adjudication helps maintain transnational deliberative spheres in which the legal-political stakes behind private law can be discussed. This opens up space for the inclusion of different voices in democratic deliberations on questions of social justice. Private law adjudication may thus be considered to contribute to the initiation of discourses of justification which serve the re-imagination of a European political community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009 was supposed to have far-reaching implications for the development of a European policy on justice and access to justice as it “constitutionalized” for the first time this important topic. However, at the time of writing, European Union (EU) law has been unable to construct and provide a proper system of access to justice for European citizens across all European Member States. In particular, the study of the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg shows that the European model of access to justice based on litigation, access to courts and on the defense of individual rights is inherently limited. The author advocates a change of approach, aiming for a better definition of a substantive notion of access to justice in the light of a broad system of European social justice and equality. This new approach could be based on the classic theory and methodology of “access-to-justice” developed in the early 80s by Professor Mauro Cappelletti. His encyclopaedia on the topic offered a horizontal comprehensive strategy to construct a justice system and procedural laws based on the needs of the ordinary citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of FinanzRundschau is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the past twenty-five years, Ireland has moved from a traditional common law model of judicial administration, in which key aspects of judicial careers and administration were handled informally and politically, to a much more formal system designed along European lines. This transition is driven by Irish judges and politicians and influenced heavily by EU and Council of Europe soft law on judicial independence and the rule of law. In this article I sketch an outline of judicial institutions in Ireland before focusing on two topics that exemplify the transition: Judicial conduct and judicial appointments. I argue that the move to formalize judicial administration in Ireland is rooted in a desire to follow best practice but also to avoid politically difficult reforms in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]