Review of European and Comparative Law

Artificial Intelligence Governance Beyond Borders: The EU AI Act’s Influence on Third Party Legal Frameworks and Regional Organizations

2025-10-31T15:20:06+01:00

This research examines the perspective and influence of the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act) on AI regulation in third countries and regional organizations. Using a doctrinal legal method with statutory and comparative law approaches, the study finds that the EU AI Act is a binding regulation applicable to all EU Member States. It aims to improve the internal market by introducing horizontal regulations focused on human rights protection. The Act defines AI broadly as a family of technologies affecting all aspects of life and classifies AI systems by risk level to determine development and market standards. This framework influences third-country regulations through the Brussels Effect. De facto, global companies, including from the U.S. and China, comply with the EU AI Act to access its market. De jure, some countries adopt its provisions into their own legal frameworks. The EU AI Act also impacts regional organizations such as ASEAN, which incorporates elements of the Act into cooperative policy documents, reflecting a shared political commitment to responsible AI governance.

AI-Assisted Works: Copyrightability in the United States, China, and the EU, and Implications for Academic Integrity

2025-12-02T12:19:43+01:00

This article explores the legal aspects of the copyrightability of AI-assisted works in the U.S., China, and the EU, within the context of a fundamental principle shared across these jurisdictions: only creations involving meaningful human creative choices are eligible for copyright protection. The article also presents comparative insights from court rulings – including those in China and the U.S. – that reinforce the requirement of human authorship for copyright protection and the legal and ethical implications of using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in academic work, with a focus on academic integrity, authorship, and copyright compliance. It analyzes recent developments in legislation, case law, and internal university regulations in jurisdictions including the European Union, the United States, China, and selected EU Member States. The central thesis is that AI-generated content cannot be regarded as an outcome of independent scholarly work if it replaces the creative process – particularly the development of a research concept and first draft. While AI tools offer efficiency and support in technical tasks such as grammar correction or literature searches, their unauthorized or undisclosed use in substantive academic writing constitutes a breach of academic ethics and may lead to the invalidation of academic degrees. Moreover, it emphasizes the growing need for universities to adopt AI detection policies that respect the presumption of innocence and align with data protection law. Ultimately, the article argues for preserving academic authorship as an intellectual process that cannot be outsourced to machines – lest scientific credibility itself be undermined.

Legal Features of Children's Rights and Duties During Armed Conflict: The Ukrainian Case

2025-08-19T16:14:47+02:00

It is universally recognized that children are the most vulnerable and unprotected category of civilians. Moreover, when it comes to the period of any armed conflict. The twientieth century is the Century of the Child. The international community’s actions, which were reflected in the adoption of a numer of international legal treaties establishing the legal status of the child in general and securing the rights of each child, are evidence of this. The rights of a child are one of the key elements of the legal construct of the legal status of a child. This article analyzes children’s rights both during the peaceful period and during the armed conflict. The article examines a numer of international legal treaties which enshrine children’s rights during armed conflict. Conventional wisdom does not refer to children’s duties. However, the period of armed conflict is fundamentally opposite to the peaceful period of the State’s existence. During an armed conflict, it is not alway spossible to fulfill children’s rights. On the contrary, this period is marked by increased risks to children’s lives and health. Moreover, it is necessary to take into account the nature og contemporary armed conflicts (their methods and means). Te period of armed conflict produces new rules of behawior (which may be restrictive) that are intended to maximize the life and health of each child. The behavioral rules form a numer of duties that are collective in nature (their fulfillment is entrusted to the children’s legal representatives, public administration bodies, and children themselves with due regard to their age). Based on the Ukrainian case study, the author analyzes a numer of duties arising during an armed conflict, and the fulfillment of which is entrusted to several actors, including children. During the course of writing the article, the author used the method of document analysis. First of all, the researcher analyzed international legal acts related to the topic of the study. The second level of legal acts that were analyzed were Ukrainian legal acts depending on their legal force. Simultaneously with the anaysis of regulatory acts, the author reviewed the academic literaturę that formed the scientific basis of this study. This helped to analyze the children’s rights and duties during armed conflicts. The scientific basis of the study is based on scientific publications in the field of children’s rights in general. The author used a systematic proces during the writing of the article, involving reading, identifying specific provisions, and categorizing information. The generalization method was applied on the basis of the comparison, which helped to formulate the relevant conclusions to the article.

United States Concepts of Due Process in Criminal Procedure and the International Criminal Court

2025-11-03T10:40:43+01:00

The provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court should be evaluated considering the due process principles of the United States Constitution to determine if it would be appropriate for the US government to sanction the sending of a US citizen to the ICC or adopting the Rome Statute. There are several areas including the right to trial by jury, right to confrontation, speedy trial and the composition of the Court that raise serious due process concerns from an American perspective. Considering the ICC’s inability to guarantee the same due process protected by the US Constitution there are serious doubts about American involvement in the Court.

Theoretical Aspects of Biodiversity Protection in European Monetary Legislation

2025-08-13T10:18:41+02:00

The subject of the analysis in the paper is an overview of the causes, features, and consequences of the tendency of „greening” the concept of modern monetary law and central bank legislation to preserve natural resources in the context of biodiversity and provide a contribution to the realization of sustainable and humane economic development. In this sense, the paper tries to indicate the potential contribution of „green monetary legislation” in controlling and solving environmental problems, where a special place is devoted to identifying the potential ecological dimension of the mandate of the (European) Central Bank as the supteme monetary institution of the EU. In the following text, attention is paid to the functional analysis of the arguments that can justify the inclusion of environmental risks in central bank legislation. In contrast, in the furter text, attention is paid to identifying the potential legal basis for biodiversity protection in the central bank mandate. Although at first glance, it may seem that monetary legislation has no direct connection with environmental law and policy, practice shows that there is a high degree of functional and content consistency between the goals of contemporary environmental and monetary policy, which only speaks in favor of the thesis of the ‘green lex monetae’. By applying the dogmatic, axiological, and comparative legal methods, the author aims to point out the biggest dilemmas and challenges in the central bank’s legal contribution to environmental concerns, identify certain solutions de lege lata, and possibly offer certain common recommendations de lege ferenda.

International Legal Challenges in Regulating the Use of Artificial Intelligence for Military and Peacekeeping Purposes

2025-08-13T13:53:51+02:00

On the treshold of the Fifth Industrial Revolution, the global security order is facing renewed instability, marked by the proliferation of armed conflicts and wars. Emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), are increasingly viewed both as tools of military superiority and as potential disruptors of peace. This paper examines whether AI can and should be developed as an instrument of international law (de lege ferenda) to prevent and end armed conficts, or whether current trajectories in technological advancement are predominantly oriented toward military applications, thereby generating future hostilities and risking violations of international humanitarian law. Through a comparative and analytical approach, the study argues that, despite the erosion of trust in international law, sustainable peace mechanisms must remain rooted in the human dimension, which continues to be the decisive factor in implementing legal norms governing the cessation of hostilities (de lege lata).

Digital Governance Act as an Instrument for Strengthening the European Union's Digital Sovereignty

2025-09-16T15:58:01+02:00

The Data Governance Act (DGA) aims to support the development of European data spaces in key sectors of the economy, reduce dependence on non-EU suppliers, and strengthen the data-driven economy. In this way, it will strengthen the EU’s digital sovereignty. Achieving these objectives depends on consistent implementation of legislation, the elimination of interpretation gaps, and ensuring a balance between the free flow of data and the protection of public and private interests.

The Principle of Proportionality in the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in Cases Concerning Workplace Monitoring

2025-09-16T16:48:31+02:00

This article examines the principle of proportionality in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights concerning workplace monitoring under Article 8 ECHR. It contrasts two models of proportionality, interest balancing and balancing as reasoning, and show how the Court has increasingly adopted the latter in landmark judgements such as Bărbulescu v. Romania and López Ribalda and Others v. Spain. Particular emphasis is placed on the structural inequality inherent in the employment relationship, which undermines the notion of that relationship as a contract between equal parties and makes contextual, reasoning-based balancing especially relevant in cases concerning labor relations. The analysis highlights how proportionality, to a certain extent, constrains the margin of appreciation and provides normative guidance in adapting national legal frameworks to the challenges of digital surveillance. At the same time, the article cautions against an uncritical drive towards harmonization and eventual unification through instruments such as the GDPR or the AI Act, as excessive standardization may overlook the diversity of national labor markets. It also highlights the risks associated with the expanding role of the ECtHR beyond judicial review. Proportionality, understood as balancing as reasoning, therefore emerges as the suitable model for safeguarding employee privacy and dignity while preserving respect for legal and social pluralism in Europe.

Definition of a particularly vulnerable consumer under Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices

2025-11-07T15:15:39+01:00

Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices establishes the normative benchmark of the “average consumer” as the primary standard for assessing the legality of commercial conduct. However, Article 5(3) of the Directive introduces an important corrective mechanism by recognizing the category of the “particularly vulnerable consumer,” whose economic behavior may be disproportionately influenced by age, mental or physical frailty, or credulity. This article analyzes the legal contours of this category, with particular regard to the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union and Czech judicial practice. The article examines both endogenous forms of vulnerability (such as illness, disability, or old age) and exogenous or situational factors (including linguistic barriers, lack of digital literacy, or acute distress), emphasizing the requirement of an objective and generalized assessment. Special attention is devoted to the cumulative conditions for the application of Article 5(3), notably the existence of a clearly identifiable group, the substantial distortion of economic behavior, and the criterion of reasonable foreseeability on the part of the trader. The article concludes that the concept of the particularly vulnerable consumer functions as a necessary complement to the average consumer model, thereby aligning EU consumer law more closely with social reality while preserving a fair balance between legitimate commercial practices and effective consumer protection.

Transparency and Accountability in Local Public Finance: Evidence from Public Parking Fee Allocation

2025-12-24T11:43:12+01:00

Municipalities worldwide play a crucial role in delivering essential public services to citizens. However, securing adequate resources and sustainable funding remains a persistent challenge for local self-governments. Depending on the state system, local circumstances, societal needs, and policy priorities, municipal revenue structures vary significantly. Yet modern urban municipalities are generally guided by common principles such as equality, solidarity, efficiency, transparency, accountability, and the promotion of public well-being. The adoption of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in the 1980s established an internationally recognized legal framework for local governance and local financing. As a member state of the Council of Europe, North Macedonia adheres to the Charter’s core principles, which emphasize greater local fiscal autonomy and the responsibility of municipalities to manage both their revenues and expenditures independently of the central government. Despite the existing framework, Macedonian municipalities still rely heavily on central government transfers, with own-source revenues – such as property taxes, communal fees, and parking fees – making up a smaller share. Parking fees generally provide modest revenue, mainly funding public-space maintenance, traffic management, and minor infrastructure, and rarely support social welfare. Recently, some cities have introduced structured or solidarity-based parking fees for humanitarian or health purposes. This paper examines the core principles of local financing through an analysis of parking fees, focusing on the emerging practice of “humanitarian parking” as a case study. It employs a qualitative comparative case-study methodology that examines legal frameworks, policies, and practices of public ad solidarity-based parking fees in cities in Macedonia and Serbia, as neighboring countries that share a similar socio-demographic, economic, and legal context. Particular attention is given to the emerging model of “humanitarian parking” as a municipal policy instrument. The analysis assesses the impact of this model on local fiscal autonomy and examines empirical evidence on citizen attitudes, including levels of public support and the transparency of parking-revenue allocation.

Legal Event of Death and Collected Taxes in the Czech Republic: Comparative Study

2025-10-08T18:52:32+02:00

Taxes certainly belong amongst the biggest social phenomena. They affect all residents of the state and are constantly in the focus of interest of the general public. They include legal, economic, social, sociological psychological, and political aspects. Death as a legal event is connected with settlement of tax obligations stricto sensu of natural persons in the Czech Republic in connection with their death from a legal perspective.

Civil-Law Aspects of Agrivoltaic Contractual Arrangements under Italian Law: Between Innovation and Constraints

2025-11-24T09:08:40+01:00

Under Italian law, the installation of agrivoltaic systems may be brought within the scope of agricultural enterprise only where there exists an effective, verifiable, and not merely declaratory link with the agricultural land (fondo rustico), within the meaning of Article 2135 of the Italian Civil Code. From this standpoint, the production of energy from renewable sources qualifies as a connected activity, and not as a substitute for the primary agricultural activity. Against the background of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the EU climate and energy objectives, this article takes Italy as a case study within the EU legal framework and examines how the civil-law notion of "connected activity" can be reconciled with CAP conditionality and eligibility rules. On the basis of this principle, Italian agrivoltaic contractual practice - in particular, deeds establishing surface rights, land tenure titles, and coordination agreements - must be structured so as to ensure continuity of cultivation effective access to the land, compliance with the rules of the Common gricultural Policy (CAP) and with the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and with national incentive schemes (Ministerial Decree of 22 December 2023; GSE Director's Decree No. 149 of 19 June 2025) and, at the same time, the bankabiity of the projects. The legal point of equilibrium in the Italian framework lies in translating the principles of sustainability and multifunctionality into binding contractual clauses capable of preserving the agricultural identity of the land and making energy production compatible with the economic and social function of the agricultural enterprise. The analysis also offers brief comparative insights into selected EU Member States, showing that similar tensions between dual land use (food/energy) and CAP requirements arise across Europe, and suggesting criteria for a possible future revision of Article 2135 of the Italian Civil Code in line with EU law.

Gloss on the Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 9 November 2023, Staatsanwaltschaft Aachen, C-819/21

2025-09-16T16:26:34+02:00

The subject of considerations undertaken in the paper is the judgment of CJEU of 9 November 2023, Staatsanwaltschaft Aachen, C-819/21. The commented judgment was issued in response to preliminary questions submitted by the Landgericht Aachen (Regional Court, Aachen). It primarily addresses the possibility to recognise and enforce a custodial sentence by a court of the executing state if there are grounds to believe that the conditions in the issuing state – at the time of the judgment to be enforced or subsequent judgments concerning it – are inconsistent with the fundamental right to a fair trial, in particular because the judicial system in the Member State in question has been found to be incompatible with the rule of law and has a specific, adverse effect on the convicted person in the proceedings. CJEU ruled that the application of an exceptional ground for refusal not expressly regulated in FD 2008/909 is possible after conducting two-step test developed in CJEU’s case law with respect to the procedure for enforcing an EAW. This position of CJEU does not deserve uncritical approval, even though it is essentially consistent with the CJEU’s approach to the significance of abstract and concrete deficiencies relating to fundamental rights, including those affecting the right to a fair trial, in relation to the principle of mutual recognition of judgments and the exceptional possibility of derogation from it. The solution developed in the judgment of 9 November 2023 fails to take into account the fundamental differences between the EAW procedure and that set out in FD 2008/909 and raises doubts as to its functionality.

Conference Report: "Covid-19 in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE): Lessons Learned and Pandemic Preparedness - Five Years Later", Lublin Conference Centre, October 2-3 2025

2025-11-23T18:03:01+01:00

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