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• Combatting against terrorism

  Krisztina Kovács

  Views:

  91

  In the last decades of our globalized world terrorism has become a phenomenon that implies a worldwide challenge and can hardly be prevented, and that is difficult to combat against with means of national and international law. The international terrorism in the sense as we use it nowdays has a history of only one and a half centuries, but since the appearance of concrete terrorist attacks is always changing (and of course the ideology and supplier of the different groups) there has not been any consensus yet among states or within particular international organizations how to define it. But it should be taken into consideration that attacks not only affect the state where they are executed but also the whole society and even the international order. That is why it would be essential to define it in international terms, because without an exact definition the proper defence against it can not be determined either.  

  It has to be emphasized that it does not exist a common strategy that could be adapted any time in any case. It can not be forgotten that the terrorism itself is also an answer, so its political, economical and social roots should be taken into consideration whilst choosing the best way to prevent it. The different means (primarily legal and classical ones) should be combined and used by states in strict cooperation, because these don’t substitute but complete each other. It is also important to underline that it is not enough to react upon terrorist actions and restore its harmful effects, but it is also essential to prevent it by eliminating its causes. Unfortunately, proactive strategies are not common enough - mainly because of its costs - in spite of the fact that in the long run it would be worth using them.

  It is important to act in conformity with international law, because this can legitimate the reaction after an attack. The main task for states is to elaborate an exact legal framework for it, because without global accords and without the acceptance of this policy within the nation an effective policy against terrorism cannot be realized. National criminal law should be aggravated, flow of information among intelligence services, cooperation among media and governments should be developed and it is also essential to inform the society properly and make it obvious that assistance at a terrorist attack is also to be punished. International measures should be taken in order to avoid financing of terrorist actions by preventing money-laundering. These means can be used even with certain restrictions on criminal law, but always respecting human rights either that of the victims or that of the delinquents. 

  To institutionalize international actions under the aegis of the United Nations numerous agreements were accepted, eg. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons (1973), Convention against Taking of Hostages (1979), Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (1999) and  some conventions were signed on the Prevention Crimes committed in aircrafts, etc. The main problem is that these accords are not signed by all member states and hence their efficiency can be questioned. Of course not only the UN try to solve this problem with international conventions, so does the EU. Its activity has considerably increased since the attacks of Madrid, because this case made two things clear: even Europe is vulnerable and well-timed attacks can even lead to political changes.

  To be able to meet the challenges that terrorism mean nowdays there are two things to emphasize: first of all a worldwide cooperation would be essential and secondly the provision of financial sources for each state so that it were able to ensure national and promote global security.

• Functional Analysis of Damage Charges

  97-117.

  András Mátyus

  Views:

  196

  Replacing the legal institution for non-pecuniary damages burdensome by previous theoretical and practical contradictions, Act V of 2013 (Civil Code) introduces damage charges as a separate sanction for violation of personal rights, which has dual functions: on the one hand, it aims for the person being injured in its personal rights receive a monetary allowance that approximates or compensates for the non-material damage suffered. On the other hand, it can also be considered as a punishment under private law for the prevention of similar infringements, as a deterrent.

  According to the intended interpretation, the damage charge can only be applied if it is able to fulfill its function, i.e. if no non-pecuniary damage can be detected for which the damage charge is intended for proportional compensation (primarily), it has no place at all since in the case of infringements leaving the personality untouched, only the punitive function would be exercised, which is completely incompatible with the inherently remedial, corrective nature of private law. According to the unanimous opinion of the legal literature, the compensatory function should have priority and private punishment only take precedence of a secondary nature. On the basis of my work, it is noticeable that judges also consider damage charges as a legal instrument to repair the immaterial injuries suffered and to compensate for the lost pleasures of life, and to not order it upon preventive reasons solely, but in the plurality of cases, preventive function is being evaluated as a factor enhancing the amount of the damage. In my study, I wish to analyze from several aspects, how the dual function of the damage charge is assessed by the courts concerning present cases, by highlighting which nature is protruding concerning the amount or the legal basis. As the research is basically empirical, I will examine through as many judgments as possible, what aspects the courts evaluate in the framework of the compensational (e.g.: physical injuries, mental changes, age, family life of the victim, change in lifestyle, etc.) and of the preventive function (e.g. the gravity of the infringement, its protracted nature, etc.). Finally, I would like to answer the central question of my thesis: what function does practice attribute to the payment of damage charges.

• Modifying the approach concerning the infliction of punishment - according to the contiguous changes of Act of Criminal Code

  96-110

  Csilla Hati

  Views:

  54

  The criminal code has had a number of essential revisions during the past years, which has received distinct viewpoints concerning the improvement of punishments from the judiciary in criminal cases. The reasons of modifications can be explained mainly by the different penalty politics coming into prominence, occasionally having respect for different social approaches. It is periodically distinct which activities are indictable offences, which of the punishments serve the prevention of committing an act of crime the best in the fight against criminality. It is interesting to study how these sweeping changes can appear and effect in the daily legal activities. How far can the changes lobby the judges and prosecutors? Which punishment is ideal in the case - suiting to the aim of punishment – in the interest of the protection of society? As a result, analyzing judgments and interviewing some professional jurists (as far as I can) the different requirementson infliction of punishments do not appear immediately in practice and do not appear in the similar way concerning the functions of judges and prosecutors. It is not machines that pass judgement in a case, which could modify the expectation concerning the result.

• The interaction of Continental and Anglo-Saxon legal system in the light of the FIDIC Yellow Book

  49-64

  Sándor Boros

  Views:

  49

  The so-called FIDIC Books made by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers provides different contract samples for construction projects, depending on the type of the project, with the primary aim of summarising best practice and proportionate risk-sharing. FIDIC Books are considered to be the most popular body of law worldwide in connection with construction projects. The Yellow Book is the second most commonly used contract sample, the essence of which is that the contractor’s obligation covers both planning and building. The Yellow Book applies the legal principles and legal institutions of the Anglo-Saxon legal system, which implies that the application of the contract sample in a continental legal context raises several problems regarding to interpretation and application. After an introduction to the interpretation of the Yellow Book in the continental legal context, the study deals with the question of the contractor's liability for damages arising from delay. The author focuses on cases where the delay of the contractor is caused by the principal. In this context, the author outlines a concrete proposal for the application of the law.

• Possibilities of workplace mediation in the European Union

  1-13.

  Aron Balogh

  Views:

  374

  The world of labor market and industrial relations is a field where conflicts and disputes are inevitable characteristics of the operation, regardless of the form of employment. Also, labor disputes appear both from an individual aspect, where the disputants are the employer and the employee, and in a collective respect, where the disputes take place between the employer(s) and the collective of the workers, typically represented by an employee organization (union) or a works council. 

  When a conflict or a dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation, the law offers dispute resolution mechanisms for the participants. Therefore, several legal mechanisms have been evolved in order to resolve disputes, starting from the classical form of litigation, where a court determines the end of the dispute by its judgement, and other alternative forms of dispute resolution, such as arbitration, mediation and conciliation, where the parties can reach a decision or a settlement outside of the judicial system of the state.

  EU Member States have introduced various legislative rules for labor dispute resolution covering all manner of individual and collective disputes. ADR schemes are also supported by the ILO, as the ILO Recommendation No. 92 (1951) suggests that voluntary conciliation should be made available to assist in the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes between employers and workers. Within the aegis of the European Union, several instruments have emerged with the attempt to elaborate the basic principles for the operation of ADR schemes in the context of cases between businesses and consumers. The Directive 2013/11/EU on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes (the “ADR Directive”) and Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes (the “ODR Regulation”) ensured that consumers could turn to quality alternative dispute resolution entities for all kinds of contractual disputes with traders, and established an EU-wide online platform for consumer disputes that arise from online transactions with traders.

  Workplace mediation is widely and successfully utilized in the USA for solely employment purposes both in the private and the public sector. Also, in the United States is a “employment at will” doctrine prevails, that basically means – unless stipulated to the contrary by the parties – the employment relationship can be terminated with immediate effect without any justification (just cause), thus workers do not have access to legal remedies as in the EU where the statutory laws provide a broad protection against arbitrary or unjust termination. Mediation, however, provide an effective solution for employees and workers, even if situated outside the protective scope of labor law.

  While the role of customer/consumer ADR and mediation is increasing throughout the whole European Union, workplace and employment mediation still constitutes a “grey zone”.  In many of the legal instruments of the EU and also in several products of the national legislations, consumers and workers are treated with the same legal awareness, thus protective laws compensate their weaker position in their legal relationships, but as far as the utilization and access of dispute resolution schemes are concerned, a significant but not always reasonable differentiation can be detected. Also, while mediation is an available tool for individual employment matters, still has not been utilized considerably, and remained an instrument only to resolve mostly collective conflicts. Therefore, the aim of this paper to present various styles of mediations from a comparative perspective, to express their biggest advantages and to highlight the areas where mediation could be more suitable to use in the context of the individual disputes of the workplace.