Review of European and Comparative Law

Multiple Nationality in Private International Law; A Comparative Analysis of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union

Anita Duraković, Jasmina Alihodžić, Jasmina Berbić, Jasmina Berbić — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

Historical, economic, and political developments have led to a significant number of nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina simultaneously holding the nationality of another state. While dual nationality may confer tangible advantages on individuals, notably facilitated mobility, where an individual, in addition to the nationality of Bosnia and Herzegovina, also holds the nationality of a Member State of the European Union, it also generates complex legal challenges in situations involving a foreign element. Under the Private International Law Act of Bosnia and Herzegovina, precedence is accorded to domestic nationality. In cases where an individual possesses two or more foreign nationalities, the applicable connecting factor is determined by reference to the closest connection, assessed through domicile or the person’s effective nationality. Nationality remains a primary connecting factor in matters of personal status, family law, and succession with an international element. It also serves as a basis for determining international jurisdiction and governs the recognition of foreign status decisions concerning domestic nationals. Within the European Union legal order, the treatment of multiple nationality is shaped primarily by the status of Union citizenship under Articles 20 and 21 TFEU, the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality in Article 18 TFEU operating as a supplementary guarantee; the resulting questions have required interpretative guidance from the Court of Justice of the European Union. This article analyzes the legal challenges arising from multiple nationality within the domestic system of private international law and proposes normative and practical solutions to address them. It further advances de lege ferenda considerations concerning the future legislative treatment of legal issues arising from multiple nationality.

Can Artificial Intelligence Weigh Values? Proportionality Testing under the ECHR between Doctrine and Empirical Evidence

Mahir Muharemovic — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This paper examines whether contemporary artificial intelligence (AI) systems are capable of performing proper proportionality tests, particularly the balancing exercise required by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in determining violations of human rights. The proportionality test sensu stricto, which requires balancing competing interests to achieve substantial justice, represents one of the most complex forms of legal reasoning, demanding deep understanding of values, cultural frameworks, and lived human experience. Through analysis of current AI limitations, including the alignment problem, value comprehension constraints, and the challenge of interpreting cultural context, this study argues that current AI systems lack the capacity for genuine value understanding and cultural sensitivity necessary for proper proportionality balancing. While AI demonstrates utility in pattern recognition and prediction of judicial outcomes, the nuanced moral reasoning, empathy, and contextual judgment required for proportionality testing, particularly considering the margin of appreciation doctrine, remain beyond current AI capabilities. The identified obstacles stem from the fundamental structural properties of the current architectural paradigm. Because these obstacles are structural rather than incidental, considerable skepticism is warranted about successor systems built upon the same principles, though this does not foreclose improvement in a different architecture. The paper concludes that human judgment remains irreplaceable in rights adjudication, though AI may serve as a valuable analytical tool when properly constrained within human-supervised frameworks.

Historical Foundations and Post-Socialist Reconstruction of the Latin-type Notariat in the Successor States of Former Yugoslavia

Attila Dudás, Emma Király-Szitás — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This study examines the historical foundations of the Latin-type notariat in the successor states of the former Yugoslavia. In order to understand the contemporary system of notarial institutions in the Western Balkans, the layered historical interaction of different legal traditions, interwar harmonization efforts, and socialist abolition should be analyzed. The paper aims to present the development of the Latin-type notariat through two decisive historical phases: the pre-1945 coexistence of Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman legal models together with the partial and uneven implementation of the 1930 Notaries Act, and the structural rupture caused by the socialist dismantling of the notarial profession. Through a historical-comparative methodological approach, the study demonstrates that the evolution of the Latin-type notariat in the region was a lengthy process of institutional development under the influence of legal particularism and disrupted professional continuity. These findings provide the analytical foundation for a subsequent comparative evaluation of contemporary notarial systems in the region.

Between Profit and Protection: A Comparative Study of the Legal Status of Kidsfluencers

Jovana Rajić Ćalić — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

We live in a digital era in which young people navigate technology and social media with ease. One growing trend is the rise of kidsfluencers – children aged between 6 and 16 who create content on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Their posts often focus on video games, fashion, or lifestyle, and once they have gained a sufficient following, they begin to advertise products and secure sponsorships, which can generate significant profit. This phenomenon raises several concerns. The first is child labor: producing content may consume time that should be devoted to school and leisure. The second is the question of earnings – how much kidsfluencers make and who controls that income. Finally, privacy is a major challenge, particularly in the context of sharenting, whereby parents share photos or videos of their children online. This paper focuses primarily on the relationship between kidsfluencing and child labor, while also examining other aspects of the phenomenon of kidsfluencers. The author argues that children in the influencer world are not adequately protected, that their earnings may be mismanaged, and that existing privacy safeguards, such as the “right to be forgotten,” are insufficient.

Legal Certainty in Substantive Law as a Condition for Effective Civil Proceedings : The Perspective of the European Court of Human Rights

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

Historically, the effectiveness of civil proceedings has been analyzed mainly through procedural guarantees; the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, however, increasingly shows that the quality of substantive regulation also affects the practical effectiveness of judicial protection. Under conditions of normative instability and broad judicial discretion, legal certainty acquires systemic importance for the foreseeability of the law and for public trust in the justice system. Although the principle of legal certainty is well developed in the rule-of-law literature, its structural role as a precondition for effective civil adjudication remains insufficiently explored. This study seeks to demonstrate the fundamental significance of legal certainty in substantive law as a structural condition of civil proceedings, and to develop an account of the quality of substantive regulation as a precondition for the effective enjoyment of the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the Convention. It applies the dogmatic and comparative methods, together with a structured interpretative analysis of case-law, and examines 180 judicial decisions: 120 judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (2000–2024) and 60 judgments of the highest courts of Poland, France, and Germany, supplemented by civil codes and statutes. The analysis shows that foreseeability, consistency of judicial practice, protection of legitimate expectations, legal stability, and the finality of judicial decisions operate as interdependent indicators of the normative quality of substantive law within the civil limb of Article 6, and that vagueness or internal inconsistency in substantive norms may render formally correct proceedings ineffective as a means of protecting rights.

The New Law on Civil Confiscation in the Republic of North Macedonia

Nina Madjovska Naumovska — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

Confiscation, as a criminal law measure, plays a significant role within the legal framework of the Republic of North Macedonia, although it does not represent a novelty in the national legislation. The 2004 legal reforms formally introduced confiscation as a mechanism aimed not at punishment but at restoring legal equity by depriving individuals of assets unlawfully acquired through criminal activity. The legal framework distinguishes between in rem confiscation regulated under civil law and in personam confiscation applied within the scope of criminal law. The adoption of the Law on Confiscation of Property in Civil Proceedings introduced the possibility of confiscating property without a final criminal conviction, thereby broadening the state’s capacity to target assets reasonably suspected of illicit origin. This development raises important questions as to procedural safeguards and legal certainty, particularly in relation to the rule of law and the protection of individual rights. The paper examines the normative and procedural aspects of both forms of confiscation, their implementation in practice, and the underlying reasons for their limited application in judicial proceedings.

Control-Enhanced Mechanisms in Spain: Non-Voting Shares, Loyalty Shares, and the Implementation of the Directive on Multiple Voting Rights

Isabel Fernández Torres — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This article analyzes the legal framework governing control-enhanced mechanisms under the Spanish Companies Act (Ley de Sociedades de Capital [LSC]) and examines the practical experience of Spanish public companies. As a general rule, the governing principle is proportionality, meaning that the law presumes a correlation between risk, profit and power of each shareholder. Although the default rule concerning shareholders’ rights is equality, the law allows for the creation of shares with different economic rights, while remaining stringent with regard to the introduction of differentiated voting rights. Non-voting shares are permitted, but they remain uncommon; as for loyalty shares, just four companies have opted into the regime. Accordingly, in transposing the Directive, the Spanish legislator will face several obstacles and legislative amendments will be required. The LSC distinguishes between public companies (sociedades anónimas, S.A.) and private limited liability companies (sociedades de responsabilidad limitada, S.L.), adopting a differentiated approach to shares carrying different voting rights. Perhaps the time has come to abandon certain entrenched dogmas.

Tax System Resilience in Armed Conflict: A Comparative Legal Analysis

Jafaar Sakkour — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This paper examines the resilience of tax systems during armed conflict from a legal and constitutional perspective. While previous research has primarily explained tax resilience through economic and fiscal factors, this study argues that it is fundamentally shaped by the interaction of constitutional safeguards, administrative capacity, tax policy design, and the structure of the tax system. The paper adopts a comparative legal methodology, analyzing selected case studies from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Ukraine, Israel, and Nepal. It evaluates how tax laws, administrative systems, and policy measures function under conditions of conflict and institutional stress. The analysis is structured around four key determinants: constitutional principles of taxation, tax administration capacity, tax policy design, and the structure of the tax system. The findings demonstrate that tax reforms are effective only when supported by coherent legal frameworks and functioning institutions. Similar fiscal measures produced markedly different outcomes across the selected countries because their constitutional and institutional capacities differed. The study concludes that tax system resilience is primarily a legal-institutional phenomenon rather than merely a fiscal one. Sustainable wartime taxation depends on the interaction of constitutional safeguards, effective administration, balanced tax structures, and adaptive tax policies capable of maintaining fiscal stability under conditions of armed conflict.

Between Binding Tax Rulings and Administrative Guidance: A Comparative Study of Polish and Czech Models of Tax Certainty

Dawid Trela — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This article compares the Polish and Czech approaches to tax certainty, focusing on official tax law interpretation, binding tax rulings, and administrative guidance. It argues that the Polish model primarily relies on broadly available individual tax rulings, supported by general interpretations, tax explanations, and specialized binding information. The Czech model is structured differently: binding assessment decisions are available only in statutorily defined cases, with a substantial part of practical legal certainty provided through methodological instructions, public statements, answers to taxpayers’ questions, and the practice of the Coordination Committee. Using dogmatic-legal and comparative methods, the article demonstrates that Poland offers stronger formal protection in individual cases, whereas the Czech Republic relies more heavily on publicly available administrative guidance and settled administrative practice. The main conclusion is that tax certainty depends not only on the formal binding force of a given instrument, but also on the transparency, stability and quality of administrative practice.

Public Procurement, Concessions, and PPPs in Albania: Legal Alignment, Implementation Gaps, and Compliance with Directive 2014/23/EU

Artan Spahiu, Aida Saraçi — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This paper examines Albania’s progress in aligning its domestic regulatory framework with European Union standards in the fields of public procurement, concessions, and public-private partnerships (PPPs). It provides an analytical overview of the EU regulatory framework governing public procurement and evaluates its influence on the approximation of Albanian legislation within the context of Chapter 5 of the EU acquis. Special emphasis is placed on concessions and PPPs, which remain among the most challenging areas of alignment, particularly in relations to Directive 2014/23/EU. The paper identifies key legislative gaps, ongoing concerns related to transparency, and inconsistencies in the enforcement of procurement rules, as well as the need to further enhance the digitalization of concession procedures. It also considers the existing administrative and supervisory framework, drawing on data from concession and PPP procedures between 2016 and 2024, along with the roles of key institutions such as ATRAKO, the Public Procurement Agency, and the Ministry of Finance. Furthermore, the paper highlights several persistent structural weaknesses, including the limited effectiveness of anti-corruption measures, the insufficient integration of PPPs into government investment planning, and inconsistencies between the Public Procurement Law and the legal framework governing concessions and PPPs. In light of these findings, the study outlines key areas for future reform, emphasizing the importance of strengthening implementation, institutional coordination, and transparency in order to support Albania’s progress towards European Union integration.

Definitional Consistency in Nuclear Law: Polish Atomic Law, Directive 2013/59/Euratom and the Limits of Legislative Drafting

Ewa Katarzyna Czech, Robert Bobkier, Lyazzat Sembiyeva — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This paper conducts an audit of the definitional layer of the Polish Atomic Law through the lens of legislative drafting principles and the terminology of the Directive 2013/59/Euratom. It demonstrates that the unusually extensive glossary of the Atomic Law is structurally fragmented across the general definitions in Article 3 and multiple chapter-specific glossaries, including cases where technical concepts are defined only for specified chapters of this Act while operating throughout its normative framework. The analysis further shows that parallel “general” and “special” definitions within a single statute may destabilize interpretative reconstruction. The article also identifies a multilingual defect in the Polish-language version of the Directive concerning the clearance/exemption distinction, and highlights additional scope-sensitive divergences in Polish transposition (natural radiation; dose limit). These findings underscore the regulatory costs of definitional inconsistency for legal certainty and the uniform application of Euratom standards.

When the EU AI Act Travels: Legal Transplantability and Modular Adaptation in Third-Country AI Governance

Van Thanh Hoang, Ngoc Mai Nguyen — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200

This article examines the extent to which the EU AI Act can function as a model for AI governance beyond the European Union. It argues that regulatory influence should not be equated with successful legal transplantation. While the Act has quickly become a reference point for lawmakers and regulators outside Europe, its elements vary significantly in portability across legal systems. The article develops and applies a four-part framework for assessing legal transplantability, focusing on normative transplantability, institutional transplantability, market transplantability, and rights-operability. It uses selected third-country examples, including Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Brazil, not as an exhaustive survey, but as comparative tests of how different regulatory environments absorb, translate, or resist elements of the EU model. On that basis, the article distinguishes between elements of the Act that are comparatively more portable, such as risk-based classification, baseline transparency duties, documentation logic, and incremental governance tools, and those that resist transplantation more strongly, especially enforcement density, technical conformity infrastructures, and the rights-operability that makes fundamental-rights commitments actionable in practice. The article concludes that the EU AI Act travels most plausibly not as a complete statutory template, but as a modular regulatory architecture. Its comparative value for third countries lies less in wholesale replication than in selective adaptation sequenced to institutional capacity and regulatory readiness.

William Nikolakis, ed., Land Rights Now: Global Voices on Indigenous Peoples and Land Justice , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025, pp. 364

Marcin Jerzy Konarski — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0200