Vol. 8 No. 1 (2018)

Published June 20, 2018

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Editorial

  • Editorial
    7-9
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    115

    In the preface, the content of the given issue is described by the editor in the form of 5-6 line article descriptions (annotations). In addition to the latest changes to the journal, here is the explanation of the Latin phrase on the back cover.

Articles

  • A Philosophical Approach to Law
    11-22
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    154

    Bjarne Melkevik’s book is one of the best comprehensive treatments of legal philosophy currently available in Canada. First of all, the reader will find in the form of a long introduction a bookchapter translated into Hungarian, which is a general description of Melkevik’s jurisprudential views, provided by Mate Paksy. The chosen chapter organizes the reflexions on legal philosophy into three interrelated ques- tions. Melkevik’s first, thought-provoking question is as follows: why do we need legal philosophy? He views legal philosophy not as foundational legal scholarship, but mainly as an elucidation of public, reflexive argumentation on law which isn’t at

    odds either with an empirical methodology. The second question concerns whether studying legal philosophy is useful for lawyers. Here Melkevik endorses again a post-positivist position according to which both law and legal philosophy are essentially practical discourses. Though the third part of the paper is heavy with disciplinary boundary-drawing, which emerges from questioning the place of legal scholarship vis-à-vis other, more empirical branches of social sciences such as history or anthropology, Melkevik’s reflexions here are still inspired by a sort of Neo-Kantian legal philosophy and Habermas’ communicative ethics.

  • Customary Law Obligations and Dispute Resolution Methods under International Law relating to Conflicts over the Shared Use of Transboundary Aquifers
    23-48
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    Our paper aims at analyzing the current stance of public international law concerning the utilization and management of transboundary aquifers. 97% of the Earth’s drinking-water supplies are locked up in aquifers placing the question in the spotlight as to, which ways States should utilize and apportion them in a manner consistent with public international law? The paper argues that bilateral and regional agreements ensure most effectively States’ mutual cooperation regarding transboundary aquifers, and they are also essential in providing for clear dispute resolution mechanisms. The paper addresses the obligations of States under international law and examines the efficiency of the possible international dispute resolution methods regarding international water conflicts. The paper also provides an overview of all existing bi- and multilateral aquifer agreements and draws some comparative remarks.

  • European Public Administration of Consular Protection
    49-65
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    The organizational issues of European public administration are especially apparent when the cooperation between the EU and its Member States is considered. The regulation of administrative institutions and bodies is fundamentally a subject of national competence. The European public administration for consular protection is based on the cooperation of the organs and authorities on both levels of European public administration. It is regulated as a framework which leaves a wide range of freedom for Member States to settle the missing details and also leaves too much room for voluntarism. All this makes the system unpredictable and despite the application of the principle of loyal cooperation and solidarity, the European administrative structure of consular protection is incompatible with the rule of law and the principle of good administration, and even with the principle of loyal cooperation and solidarity.

  • The Criminal Provisions of the DDoS Attacks in the United States, Eu- rope and Hungary
    66-83
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    325

    The Internet offers an opportunity to launch y wide range of cyberattacks such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, which exploits the vulnerabilities of the system network without access. DDoS attacks continue to grow in intensity and complexity. Due to the Crime-as-a-Service business model and online criminal markets DDoS attacks have become accessible to anyone willing to pay for such services. It can be launched easily, although it may cause serious social and economic damage. The aim of this paper to present the criminal provisions of the DDoS attack in the United States, Europe and Hungary.

  • Collective Redress in Certain States of Europe
    84-106
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    Collective redress mechanisms can be seen in almost all of European countries (except Switzerland and Czech Republic for example). The established regulatory solutions are diverse, basically two lines are typical, and mixed systems based on these are created. One is a representative collective claim enforceable to protect the collective interests of the community (public interest). In general, such claims can only be enforced by government bodies designated by a legislator or by associations whose purpose is the protection of those interests. Another type of collective demand assists the homogeneous demands of a group of individuals by taking advantage of the merged action. In these cases, a person is usually validated by the requirements of the group members, who is himself interested in the proceedings because of his own material right.

  • Discretion in Taxation Procedures
    107-130
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    Besides decisions conditioned by law we have to examine decisions based on discretion as well. If vested by law with discretionary powers, the tax authority shall exercise such rights as consistent with the purpose of authorization and within the framework of law. It is very important how the framework is defined by the legislator and what kind of facts are taken into consideration in the discretion process (e.g. the nature and willfulness of violation). Discretion process must be separated from fairness, estimation, practice and interpretation of the law. In connection with remedy the extension and the detail of explanation in the resolution has high importance. The persuasion of the taxpayer is also a relevant question to investigate.

Legal Practice

  • The Value of Personal Data in the Competition Law Assessment of the Facebook–WhatsApp Merger Case
    131-147
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    The European Commission fined Facebook 110 million euros for giving misleading information within the merger procedure on acquiring the messaging service WhatsApp in 2014. The case reached a crossroad of competition law, data protection and consumer law. This was the first time the Commission imposed a fine on a company for inaccurate information since the merger regulation rules were established in 2004. Some authors criticized not only the Commission’s decision from 2017 which imposed the fine, but also the decision from 2014 in which the Commission had decided not to oppose the transaction. Some authors oppose tackling data collection issues through competition law, but some authors raise the question: is competition law enough to consider the case when personal data are involved, too? The controversial part of the decision is not about data protection law, but about the value of personal data from the perspective of competition law.

  • Changes of substantive and procedural law concerning the register of non-governmental organizations
    148-163
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    Provisions concerning the societies and foundations raise difficulties for judges, lawyers and judicial staff proceeding in the interest of registration of non-governmental organizations for a long time. The study examines the registration of non- governmental organizations with a view to provisions of substantive and procedural law and attempts to demonstrate problems being the cause of legal uncertainty. Finally the author puts forward a proposal for correction of regulation concerning the non-governmental organizations and suggests introducing methods in the interest of predictable application of law.

Reviews & Reports

  • Legal Regulation and Practice of the Non-Material Indemnification and Rehabilitation in the United Kingdom
    165-183
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    The article analyzes the specialties of the English legal system with a focus on the legal regulation and court practice of tort law, and especially the non material indemnification and rehabilitation of the bodily injured. The study starts with the description of the main characteristics of the tort law, the definition and jurisprudence of non material damages, like pain and suffering and loss of amenity and psychological damages are also reviewed in detail with respective court cases. The study also gives an analysis of the connection between tort law and insurance law, how one effects the other. Nowadays the indemnification process of the bodily injured cannot be full without rehabilitation. Like in most of the Western European countries, in the United Kingdom the rehabilitation process is a complex and centrally managed procedure with the help of state institutions and programs.

  • The Past, Present, and Future of Environmental Policy (Book re- view)
    184-196
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    This is a book review from the book title "Why Environmental Policies Fail", the author is Jan Laitos (University of Denver Strum College of Law, 2017.)