bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Consumer Protection in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Breaking Down the Silo Mentality Between Consumer, Competition, and Data
Authors: Koolen Christof
Published: June 2024

Consumer protection calls for a broader conceptualization. Narrow views, where consumers are reduced to their economic interests, are no longer sustainable. Instead, they should be seen as consumer-citizens whose consumption choices have profound implications on society as a whole. In the face of artificial intelligence (AI)- driven practices, the pursuit of a more holistic level of consumer protection therefore requires a combined approach; a defence in depth that hinges on reciprocal interactions between consumer law, competition law, and data protection law. The complementarity between each branch ensures that different aspects of consumer welfare – consumer autonomy, consumer choice, and the right to data protection – are adequately safeguarded. Doing so ensures that consumer protection is not only about empowering consumers, but also about building safer digital spaces and creating a level playing field for entrepreneurs where innovation can thrive.
Artificial Intelligence and Tort Law: A ‘Multi-faceted’ Reality
Authors: Bruyne J. De , Dheu O.
Published: June 2024

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly prevalent in our daily lives. Although AI systems bring many benefits, several legal and regulatory challenges remain as well. A field that has already attracted much attention is extra-contractual and product liability for damage involving AI systems. Accidents involving self-driving vehicles or surgical robots surely are a reason why tort and product liability are increasingly being discussed. Another reason relates to the intrinsic characteristics of AI such as opaqueness, autonomy, connectivity, data dependency or self-learning abilities, which make it difficult to trace back potentially problematic decisions made with the involvement of such systems. The attention for this academic field will only increase following the recent proposal by the European Commission (EC) regarding new liability rules for AI. Instead of focusing on one specific element, giving a rather general overview of the impact of AI on tort law or discussing the new rules, this article will take a more conceptual perspective and show that each policy decision regarding tort liability for damage involving AI actually entails several additional choices to be made. We will illustrate this with two use cases, namely the allocation of the burden of proof in an AI-context on the one hand and the adoption of strict liability regimes on the other hand. This starting point is important as normative recommendations and proposals risk to be one-layered and, consequently, too ‘simple’ or not realistic to directly implement. Our research emphasizes the ‘multi-faceted’ reality of any proposal regarding the adoption of a new liability regime or modification to existing rules.
Artificial Intelligence and Contractual Liability Limitations: A Natural Combination?
Authors: Herbosch Maarten , Claes Hannes
Published: June 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are being used increasingly often in everyday contract performance. At the same time, this novel technology and its autonomy present some unique challenges for our traditional legal system. This is related to the fact that while these systems may usually provide excellent results, they are also prone to make manifest mistakes that no human being would make. In this contribution, we examine some of these challenges relating to the contractual liability for the use of AI systems. To this end, we distinguish between two potential ways AI systems may be implemented in a contract. First, the AI system may constitute (part of) the object of the contract itself. Second, an AI system may be used to perform an existing contractual obligation, that does not detail the use of such a system. Both of these types of AI system application lead to unique challenges relating to the contractual liability of the AI system provider or user. In this regard, it is essential to know the extent to which liability may be contractually limited or excluded. The two identified functions AI systems may perform regarding the contract also turn out to be essential in this regard. Put briefly, while liability limitations regarding occasional, abhorrent mistakes appear to be generally permissible when the AI system is the object of the contract itself, they appear to be unacceptable when the AI system is used to perform an existing contractual obligation that is determined without reference to the use of such a system.
Article: Towards a New Balance Between Private and Public Enforcement in EU Consumer Law
Authors: Straetmans Gert , Vereecken Jasper
Published: June 2024

European law is having an increasing impact on private enforcement of consumer law in the Member States. Firstly, the European principles of equivalence and effectiveness acted as levers for the CJEU to strengthen the obligation imposed on national courts to apply European consumer law of their own motion (‘ex officio control’). The scope and content of this evolution in case law also impacts the functioning of public enforcement mechanisms. Secondly, the European threefold obligation that national sanctions have to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive has been further developed by the CJEU, especially in the field of consumer protection. These enforcement principles interplay and have a bearing on both private and public enforcement. Thirdly, the European legislator recently introduced new enforcement mechanisms for consumer law (e.g., Omnibus Directive, Consumer Protection and Cooperation (CPC)-regulation, Directive on representative actions) which show a new emphasis on public enforcement especially in the context of the digitalization of the market.
Article: Albanian (International) Succession Law and the EU Legislation
Authors: Veshi Denard , Pupe Ervin , Venditti Carlo , Picaro Raffaele , Cekaj Fiorela
Published: June 2024

Although Albania is not part of the European Union, supranational law is vital in Albanian legislation. Among others, at the EU level, two of the most essential instruments dealing with (cross-border) succession law are the Regulation (EU) No 650/ 2012, which governs cross-border succession law, and the Commission Recommendation on the transfer of small arid medium-sized enterprises (Rec. 94/ 1069/EC), which is considered a soft-law document. Whereas the EU does not have general competence in private law, Articles 81, 114, and 115 TFEU allow the EU to regulate those elements of private law that create obstacles to trade in the internal market or judicial cooperation in civil matters. The findings here uncover the EU’s impact on Albanian succession law by considering the substantive succession law of the Civil Code and the Albanian international succession law.
Insurance Contracts for Autonomous Vehicles: Distributing Risks Along Mobility Chains
Authors: Puleio Giulia
Published: June 2024

The introduction of autonomous and connected vehicles in the European market raises new risks for life, health, privacy, and cybersecurity. This article examines the current transition from a traditional model based on the owner and driver’s responsibility to one focused on the continuous control of the economic operators involved in the production and market introduction of autonomous vehicles. The objective of the article is to define new models of operators’ insurance contracts, able to internalize the risks deriving from autonomous vehicles.
Consumer Protection Against Defects in Automated Vehicles
Authors: Zornoza Somolinos Alejandro
Published: June 2024

European driving liability has been built around compulsory insurance and its six Directives. Based on strict liability, the question ‘Who must respond for harms caused in an accident when an automated vehicle is involved’ is so popular as needless: whoever creates the risk putting the automated vehicle on the road must assume liability for the damage created. Broadly considering that an automated vehicle is a technological product, and therefore fallible, this work approaches the research of automated vehicles and their liability regime from the comparative perspective of the European consumer protection, without losing sight of the compulsory insurance regime, and answers the following questions: Does the defective product liability regime apply to automated vehicles? Can a software defect be equated with a construction defect? Are persons on board an automated vehicle users of a product/service or can they be considered drivers and occupants?
Regulating Telematics Insurance – Enabling Car Data-Driven Innovations
Authors: den Boom Freyja Van
Published: June 2024

As cars become more autonomous and connected, they are generating large amounts of data. As the value of data and data access increases, the question of who can or should control access has been raised in the context of privacy and fair competition. This contribution presents insights to what extent key EU regulations in the current legal framework are fit for the purpose to help unlock the innovative potential of connected and automated cars looking at the balancing of the main stakeholders’ interests.
The (Assumed) Injustices of Intelligent Mobility
Authors: Napolitano Elena , Di Gioia Raffaele , Aiezza Michele
Published: June 2024

The European Parliament has recently adopted several resolutions on artificial intelligence, including the Civil Liability Regime and Artificial Intelligence of 20 October 2020. The latter, which was followed by the proposal for a Regulation of 21st April 2021, introduces different types of artificial intelligence systems and differentiates their liability regime: it distinguishes, in fact, high-risk artificial intelligence systems – for which objective liability is provided – from other artificial intelligence for which the responsibility is culpable. With the proposal for a Regulation of 21st April 2021, governance in a political and institutional sense is entrusted with shaping the design of digital artifacts by conditioning ex ante their social impact and that of the devices in which they are incorporated.
Punishing Breach of Contract in England, and a Comparison with Italy
Authors: A. Gagero Nicolò
Published: June 2024

This article examines the role of punitive remedies in English and Italian contract law. Firstly, it attempts to define punitive remedies and compares them to similar, but distinct, awards. Then, the article asks whether punishment is an inherent element of contract, and analyses the answers given by different Anglo-American contract theorists; in doing so, it differentiates between the voluntaristic and non-voluntaristic schools of thought, but also notes a substantial divergence in views within each school of thought. Turning to the positive law, the article assesses whether punitive damages are a part of English contract law and, if not, whether they are likely to be recognised in the foreseeable future. Lastly, the article engages in an analogous assessment of Italian contract law, identifying similarities and differences between the two jurisdictions. It concludes that, although there are significant differences in the remedial regime employed in England and Italy, both are governed by an underlying reluctance to use contract law as a tool for deterrence and retribution.
The Government Controlling Shareholder As a Fiduciary: Implications for Climate Change Management and Litigation
Authors: Lim Ernest
Published: June 2024

The government controlling shareholder wields significant and substantial powers over state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which play a critical economic and social role in many jurisdictions. As the government, it should act in the public interest and not for any partisan ends. However, although the government controller can and has abused its powers and engaged in conflicts of interest, it is not subject to any specific constraints or duties under corporate law. I advance a new theory of fiduciary government controlling shareholder that can provide a theoretical and legal basis to evaluate the conduct of the government controller and that can form the basis of a cause of action against it. I argue that the ultimate controlling shareholder of SOEs – the government – should owe fiduciary duties to act in good faith in the public interest and to avoid unauthorised conflicts of interest. I further argue that the direct controlling shareholder of SOEs – the govern ment agency or the company that the government interposes between itself and the SOEs – should owe both first order fiduciary duties to the government (the ultimate controller) and second order fiduciary duties (which include acting in good faith in the public interest). Finally, I explore the implications of my arguments for climate change management and litigation. I show that the ultimate and direct government controlling shareholders may breach their fiduciary duties if they fail to address climate-related risks as part of their investment approaches, governance structures, monitoring actions, engagement practices and management of conflicts of interest. I then explain the benefits of having breach of fiduciary duties as a possible cause of action in climate change litigation.
The Rise of Corporate Cross-Entity Liability: Which Doctrine for What Purpose?
Authors: Koenig Carsten
Published: June 2024

There is currently a great deal of interest in tort and corporate law doctrines that allow for what this article refers to as (corporate) cross-entity liability: holding companies liable for violations and harm caused primarily by the activities of other companies. One reason for the current attention to such liability is the growing effort to improve accountability in global supply chains. In many legal systems, several approaches can be considered, which differ significantly in their prerequisites and legal consequences. This article discusses the four most important ones: (1) veil piercing, (2) duty-based liability, (3) vicarious liability, and (4) enterprise liability. The aim is to distinguish the areas of application of these doctrines. To this end, their respective purposes are examined primarily on the basis of economic arguments. The underlying premise is that there can be no one-size-fits-all solution, but that there is a need for different approaches whose functions, however, should be distinguished more precisely in the future.
Contract Governance in the Network Economy: Implications for Company Law and Directors’ Duties
Authors: Möslein Florian
Published: June 2024

In the age of digital transformation, the boundaries of companies are beginning to blur. In the information society, the network economy is emerging as a new, paradigmatic economic order. With the ability to share information quickly and cheaply on a global scale, the importance of centralised decision-making and costly corporate structures is diminishing. Companies are giving way to interconnected networks, and the concept of ownership is gradually being replaced by the concept of access rights. From a company law perspective, this shift to the network economy leads to the emergence of new forms of governance. As access rights replace ownership, the governance of these rights becomes paramount for economic actors, but it transcends company boundaries and is instead rooted in contractual relationships. As a result, contract governance is gradually replacing corporate governance. With governance frameworks extending beyond the firm to contractual networks, directors’ duties are likely to extend beyond firm-specific boundaries to bridge the responsibility gap created by the increasing use of data technologies.
Accountability in the EU for Corporate Human Rights and Environmental Harm: A Tale of Two Systems or Potential for Complementary Twinning?
Authors: Buhmann Karin
Published: June 2024

The EU’s proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive seeks to enhance responsible business conduct through mandatory risk-based due diligence, administrative supervision by national authorities, and civil liability. If adopted the administrative accountability and remedy scheme envisaged by the proposal will exist alongside another corporate accountability mechanism, the National Contact Points established under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Having two parallel systems will likely result in divergent findings on due diligence as well as remedial responses. Such inconsistency will neither benefit companies trying to understand what is expected and demanded in terms of risk-based due diligence, nor affected people who are victims of business-related societal harm. To avoid that, this article argues that a coordinated system in which NCPs are assigned some of the administrative supervision tasks envisaged by the CSDDD (or similar measures that may be introduced by states, if the CSDDD is not adopted) will serve accountability and legal certainty, including for remedy, better than two distinct systems whose overlapping competences may undermine those objectives.
Evaluating Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Violations: The (Uncertain) Efficacy of Administrative Sanctions under the EU Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
Authors: Korka-Knuts Heli
Published: June 2024

Human rights due diligence (HRDD) regimes have been criticized for suffering from an accountability gap caused by the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms. In this respect, the upcoming EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence can be argued to be a fundamental step forward, as an infringement under the proposed Directive may result in substantial administrative fines. This article critically analyses the effectiveness of administrative corporate sanctions in the context of HRDD violations and suggests that morally light administrative sanctioning is not, as such, an appropriate mechanism in motivating impactful HRDD. Drawing on existing behavioural evidence on intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors, the article argues that any HRDD regime should rely, with the most severe breaches, on a corporate sanction system addressing the morality of the intended corporate behaviour in order to signal the societal significance of corporate human rights obligations and to support related value internalization in corporations. In terms of regulatory design, this means applying a liability system, whether criminal or adminisrative, which takes a clear stance towards corporate culpability, blame and the moral condemnation of severe HRDD violations.
The Limits of Reporting on Sustainability Impacts in Changing Corporate Behaviour
Authors: G. Eccles Robert , Havard-Williams Vanessa , Manning Mark
Published: June 2024

Standards for sustainability have moved from this being an initiative of voluntary bodies like the Global Reporting Initiative and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board to standards being developed by governments, such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and private sector initiatives whose standards have received government support, such as the IFRS Foundation’s International Sustainability Standards Board. Within the standard setting process a heated debate exists about whether these standards should be based simply on financial materiality (e.g., what matters to shareholders), so-called “single materiality,” or also impact materiality (e.g., the positive and negative externalities the company is creating in the world), so-called “double materiality.” This debate is an important one, but we think too much emphasis is being place on the extent to which companies reporting on their sustainability performance according to a set of standards can make the world a better place. Reporting transparency is simply the first step in a seven-step hierarchy of ways in which corporate behavior can be influenced. At the top of this hierarchy is corporate form as codified in company law, although changes in corporate behaviour are still influenced by the intervening steps.
The Long Road to a Unified Test for the European Ne Bis In Idem Principle
Authors: Colangelo Giuseppe , Cappai Marco
Published: June 2024

Although the significance of the ne bis in idem principle is undisputed, it has proven difficult to apply it consistently over the years. In the EU, the Court of Justice (CJEU) case law has long diverged according to the field of law. Notably, since Aalborg Portland and Toshiba an antitrust-specific threefold condition of idem (same person, same facts, same protected legal interest) has been developed, which was at odds with the twofold identity approach (same offender and same facts) established in Van Esbroek and applied to other areas of law, as confirmed in Menci. Against this background, in two recent seminal judgements (bpost and Nordzucker) the Grand Chamber has finally levelled the legal playing field, ruling in favour of a unified test shaped on Menci. Although the overruling is welcome, it needs to be accompanied by a careful elaboration on the conditions legitimating limits to the ne bis in idem principle.
Reining in the Courts and Removing the Legacy of EU Law
Authors: Birkinshaw Patrick
Published: June 2024

Brexit, and the litigation brought successfully by Gina Miller against the Brexit strategies of the Conservative government and Boris Johnson, caused a burning Conservative preoccupation to settle the score against ‘Europhile judges’, judicial review and to remove the legacy of ‘foreign’ European law in UK domestic law. This preoccupation has seen a flurry of legislative activity including the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022, the bills to remove retained EU law (REUL) from the UK statute book, to undermine the Northern Ireland Protocol and to repeal the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998. This article examines these developments.
Workers’ Buyout (WBO): From Mafia to a New Legal-Economic Business
Authors: Della Giustina Camilla , De Gioia Carabellese Pierre
Published: June 2024

There is such a thing as a legal concept straddling employment law, constitutional law and corporate law, that is to say the workers’ buy-out. The latter is revamped and rekindled in this paper in connection with one of the most caliginous and dark phenomena, the Mafia, particularly the one which has blossomed in its historical cradle, Italy. In this legal system, a piece of legislation of the last decade empowers the prosecutor, e.g., the state to seize on the assets of a Mafia-tainted business. However, in the current version of this Italian statute, the business, once seized, seems to be left to an uncertain future, particularly as far as the employees’ work relationship is concerned. Based on such a background, the paper discusses and analyses, de lege ferenda, a prospective amendment to the current legislation in a way that, thanks to the entrenched tool of the workers’ buyout, employees may step into the shoes of the confiscated business. Via this route, not only would their work be preserved, but also, they would be in charge of managing the business activity concerned. In this possible future amended statute, some business models coming from across the Channel, such as the ‘John Lewis model’, may represent an exciting intellectual spark for comparative analysis in law.
Fair Access to Drugs and the Relationship Between Big Pharma and Public Authorities in Global Health Governance
Authors: Nato Alessandro
Published: June 2024

Fair access to drugs and the relationship between Big Pharma and public authorities in global health governance The essay aims to examine the relationship between public authorities and large transnational pharmaceutical companies from the perspective of access to drugs, focusing on the problems inherent to establishing the price of medicines. Furthermore, taking the European Union as an example of a supranational order, the article shows how pharmaceutical companies influence the pricing and reimbursement of drugs through existing regulations and why such legislation does not allow public authorities – national drug agencies – to set fair prices by facilitating access to a drug by European patients. Lastly, the study will analyse the remedies EU supranational law places at the disposal of the Court of Justice, European public authorities, and the Member States to counter the excessive pricing of drugs by multinational manufacturers and limit the undue influence of large companies.
ECJ Encroachment on Domestic Judicial Autonomy? - An evaluation of ECJ value-operationalizing case law in Juízes Portugueses and subsequent cases
Authors: Riedl Benedikt
Published: June 2024

Since the 2018 Juízes Portugueses judgment, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has developed a line of case law based on Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) in conjunction with Article 19(1)(2) TEU. These two Articles list the values on which the EU is founded and describe the task and structure of European jurisdiction and the ECJ’s obligation to uphold the law within the framework of the Union Treaties. This new approach, identified as value-operationalizing, enables the ECJ to derive requirements for the independence of national judges from Article 2 TEU in conjunction with Article 19 TEU. The value of the rule of law in Article 2 TEU is thus ‘brought to life’ or ‘operationalized’ in the context of Article 19 TEU. Specific commitments under EU law for the national court organization, a core area of Member States’ competence, now arisen from the value clause of Article 2 TEU. It has been claimed that the ECJ has become the saviour of the rule of law in Member States such as Poland and Hungary. This article aims to investigate the following paradox lying within this case law: the ECJ is attempting to save national judicial independence, yet in doing so it is arguably exceeding its own mandate and acting ultra vires. Thus, paradoxically, the ECJ is encroaching on Member States’ judicial autonomy and undermining its own judicial authority. The article assesses why the wording, systematics and fundamental principles of EU law are violated, using doctrinal analysis and an evaluation of the ECJ’s value-operationalizing case law from the perspective of ultra vires theory. It concludes that establishing common values should be a joint effort. Therefore, the ECJ should not be a quasi-legislator; it should cooperate with national constitutional courts in a reverse preliminary ruling procedure.
The WTO Panel Report in United States - Safeguard on Washers (Part 2)
Authors: Piérola-Castro Fernando
Published: June 2024

This second part of the commentary on the panel decision in United States - Safeguard on Large Residential Washing Machines provides a summary and views on the other issues addressed by the panel (and not covered in the first part): the assessment of serious injury, the assessment of causation, the analysis of the necessity of the extent and duration of the safeguard measure, the assessment of notification-related claims and the assessment of consultations-related claims. The panel addressed these issues by relying on the standard of review envisaged for the assessment of safeguard-related claims: the review of the existence of reasoned and adequate explanations. The panel also favoured consistency between the categories defined for the different instances of investigation.
Article: Recent Korean Case Law on a Back-to-Back Letter of Credit
Authors: Man Kim Sang
Published: June 2024

divA letter of credit is one of the primary payment methods in international trades. A letter of credit by its nature is separate from the underlying contract under which it is issued, which promote the utility of letters of credit in international trades. A letter of credit can be categorized into different types, one of which is master letter of credit and back-to-back letter of credit. When an exporter (or a trader) uses a letter of credit issued in his favour as a means by which to request his bank (usually an advising bank) to issue a separate letter of credit on his behalf in favour of the local supplier (or a real exporter), the former letter of credit is referred to as a master letter of credit, while the latter letter of credit is referred to as a ‘back-to-back letter of credit’ because the bank issues a ‘back-to-back letter of credit’ on ‘the back of’ a master letter of credit. A back-to-back letter of credit is relatively rare, and is thus not much introduced to the traders. /divdivIn FIM Bank v. Woori Bank and Kwangju Bank (2017), the Supreme Court of Korea ruled on various issues (i.e., governing law, definition of negotiation, requirements of negotiating bank, independence principle and fraud exception, presenting bank and fraud exception, etc.), including the concept of a back-to back letter of credit, arising out of letters of credit transaction involving back-to-back letters of credit. This paper analyses the court’s findings on and deals primarily with various issues concerning a letter of credit transaction involving a back-to back letter of credit./div
Article: Usage of Transshipment as a Means of Circumvention
Authors: Reese Ira
Published: June 2024

National and international authorities have always experienced significant difficulties in attempting to control the transshipment of articles of commerce that are subject to trade sanctions or excessive dumping duties. Since the exclusion or limitation of an article of commerce from international trade by either means of trade sanctions or Anti-Dumping Countervailing Duties (AD/CVD) is a blow not only to the commerce of a country but its prestige it is a powerful weapon that is used against bad actors. Accordingly, there is a powerful urge among bad actors to bring its goods to market by transshipment through third party countries. These actions not only provide enforcement problems for Customs enforcement authorities but also for importers who must ensure that their consignments are legitimate articles of commerce.
Article: US Technological Sanctions: The Huawei Case
Authors: Deligöz Halil
Published: June 2024

This article examines the Trump administration’s technological measures towards Chinese companies, with a specific focus on the Chinese telecommunications giant, Huawei. Through this case, the article investigates how technological measures were implemented in the context of the great power rivalry between the US and China. It illustrates the rich variety of measures and the state bodies involved in the sanctioning process. Finally, the article concludes that the technological measures towards Huawei were at least moderately successful from at least two aspects: First, the US could influence the target company financially and force it to restructure its operations organizationally. Second, the US could use these measures within the wider context of bargaining with China.
Article: WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement: Has the Trade Facilitation Agreement Improved Aspects of GATT Article VIII?
Authors: Shumba Willie
Published: June 2024

GATT Article VIII deals with fees and formalities connected with importation and exportation. Fees and formalities imposed by World Trade Organization (WTO) Members have an impact on international trade, and if left unchecked, can be a barrier to trade. The paper investigates how the Trade Facilitation Agreement of the WTO (TFA) has clarified or improved aspects of Article VIII of GATT 1994. This was a desk study and a comparative analysis whose main sources of data were the legal instruments of the WTO and a review of published literature. The paper found that the TFA is a comprehensive international agreement that has made significant clarifications to Article VIII and will have a positive effect on trade by WTO Members. The improvements by the TFA to the legal texts of Article VIII involved some additional and modern measures that would make the international trade supply chain more transparent, predictable, and cost-effective. The result is that the TFA has added some value to Article VIII, and this will further expedite the movement of goods from the supplier to the buyer.
Article: Import and the Responsible Person(s): What Would Change under the EU Commission’s Reform Proposal?
Authors: Lux Michael
Published: June 2024

The Commission proposal for a reformed Union Customs Code (R-UCC) does not only suggest replacing national customs clearance systems by an EU Customs Data Hub, managed by an EU Customs Authority, but also a shift of the responsibility from the declarant (who becomes after the release of the goods the holder of the requested customs procedure) to the importer or exporter, i.e., the person determining that the goods are brought into or out of the EU. A further change concerns the fact that importers and exporters will fall either under the category of a ‘Trust and Check trader’ (an upgraded version of the ‘Authorised Economic Operator’ – AEO, subjected to the new requirement of an automated data interchange with the data hub) and thus be able to benefit from many simplifications, or not, and will then lose many of the simplifications which are currently available for traders without AEO status. The focus on the importer and exporter (who qualifies either for ‘Trust and Check’ status or not) has resulted in a certain neglect of the role of intermediaries in the supply chain, such as customs and logistics service providers, whose services are vital in particular for many small and medium sized companies (SMEs) that cannot afford their own specialized customs staff and IT systems. The author has therefore analysed the impact of the reform proposal on the various actors in the supply chain for all types of customs procedures (import, export, and special procedures), and discusses in this contribution import. The special procedures and export will be treated in subsequent articles.
Enhancing Labour Mobility Amid Europe’s Transitions: Prospects for Europe - Africa Cooperation
Authors: Bisong Amanda , Ahairwe Pamela Eunice
Published: June 2024

Labour mobility between European and African countries constitutes several opportunities and challenges shaped by historical, demographic, economic, political, and policy factors. The current labour movements, however, transcend these historical ties to reflect contemporary world dynamics that are largely influenced by demographic shifts. Demographic shifts in Europe, driven by a rise in life expectancy and a decline in fertility, have led to an ageing population and created a labour force gap that is projected to widen to ninety-five million people by 2050. Europe has an opportunity to bridge this gap by attracting Africa’s young, trained labour force with the right skill set. While Africa’s population is young, educated, and demanding jobs, it faces several challenges that prevent it from being fully immersed in the European labour market. Some of these challenges include skills mismatch, complex migration policies, requirements for recognition of qualifications, and de-linked labour markets. This paper recommends that linking labour mobility to green and digital transition, creating strategic bilateral partnerships between Europe and Africa, facilitating education platforms for knowledge sharing and imparting the right skills will open more opportunities for Europe to receive the right labour migrants and for Africa to provide more opportunities for its youth, creating a win-win game for the two continents.
Positioning African Maritime Services as Key Enablers of the Emerging Single African Market
Authors: Chaytor Beatrice , Ogo Ify
Published: June 2024

Africa has enormous untapped potential in the maritime and logistics services sector. This provides the continent with the ability to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to develop the sector through an ecosystem approach to facilitate intra-Africa trade and socio-economic development. With one-third of African countries being landlocked and a few island states, maritime transport is a key determinant of Africa’s trade competitiveness, enabling effective access to shipping services and port networks. Maritime trade in Africa is currently shaped by the continent’s concentration on commodities and limited diversification. To position the maritime sector as a key enabler of intra–African trade, AfCFTA States must offer maritime services commitments, and conclude comprehensive regulatory frameworks in maritime services that allow industry development. This will spur growth in economic activities, create jobs and increase trade in manufactures and agribusiness. It will also enable the continent to further industrialise and develop its promised regional value chains (RVCs). Delivering on this promise means Africa must also address challenges including port infrastructure and connectivity, sustainability issues, ship ownership and registration, access by landlocked states, and digitalization. National policy and regulatory alignment with sector commitments would complete the picture.
Responding to the EU Green Deal: A Proactive Approach to Trade and Green Industrial Policy in Africa
Authors: der Ven Colette van , Sasmal Sunayana
Published: June 2024

The EU Green Deal and its host of accompanying trade measures have put its trading partners on the defense, scrambling to find the right policy response. The approach adopted by many developing countries and Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) is mostly reactive. This article argues that for the EU Green Deal to be used as a development tool, EU trading partners must go beyond reacting to EU green trade measures, and instead adopt a proactive approach. This would effectively entail linking a changing EU market economy that is increasingly focused on sustainability objectives, to development and climate priorities in the EU trading partner. This article illustrates what a proactive approach to the EU Green Deal could look like for African countries, with a focus on the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). It further puts forth the argument for leveraging legal frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and charts policies that serve African interests. For both the ESPR and CRMA, this article makes policy recommendations that African countries may consider when framing domestic policy approaches, well as in their engagements with international partners.
The Purpose of Annual Leave and Its Relevance for Legislation and Interpreting the Law
Authors: Stöhr Alexander
Published: June 2024

The right to paid annual leave is an important and much discussed issue in labour law. This article focuses on the European legal bases and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), but also considers comparative regulations from individual states. It adopts a purposive approach to analyse selected issues and put forward proposals. Such issues include the design and legal nature of the right to annual leave, the obligation of the employer to inform the employee, opportunities to dispose of the right to leave, accrual and scope of the right to leave without work being performed, carrying annual leave over to the next calendar year and the behaviour of the employee during the period of leave.
Labour Law and Transformative Constitutionalism: Towards Transformative Labour Law in Latin America
Authors: Lobato Julieta
Published: June 2024

This article examines the potential of transformative constitutionalism (TC) for reshaping labour law in Latin America.While traditionally labour law scholarship has been skeptical of the ability of the courts to protect labour rights, recent years have witnessed a return to examining constitutions and the role of courts in the field. The article examines the concept of Transformative Labour Law in Latin America, which seeks to place the struggles between labour and capital within a legal discourse that can address the challenges faced by labour regulation in the region. By employing a methodology that combines constitutional theory and socio-legal literature, the article highlights the productive interactions between social processes and legal provisions. The article consists of five sections, beginning with an introduction that provides context for the study (I). Subsequent sections examine key features characterizing Latin American labour markets and identify challenges facing labour law (II), introduce TC in Latin America as a conceptual framework for analysing labour-capital relations through the law (III), and outline the key components of transformative labour law in the region (IV) before concluding with final remarks (V).
Mental Health, Psychosocial Risks, and the Right to Digital Disconnection from Work: The Role of Collective Bargaining with a Focus on Spanish Social Dialogue
Authors: Trujillo Pons Francisco , Fernández Diego Megino
Published: June 2024

The right to digital disconnection from work refers to the right of employees not to receive or reply to work-related emails, calls or messages outside of normal working hours. Advances in technology and mobile devices enable employees in an increasing number of occupations to work anywhere, anytime. While this flexible approach to work has its benefits, it also carries the risk of eroding the barriers between work and private life. A further issue is the potential negative impact on the mental health of employees. For this reason, and due to the increase in connectivity and teleworking due to COVID-19, various political and social institutions, concerned about mental health in the digital world of work, are addressing the regulation of the right to disconnection. In particular, the proposal for a Directive by the European Parliament on the right to digital disconnection [2019/2181(INL)] is intended to encourage national legislators to safeguard the right of workers to digital disconnection. In connection with this proposal, even in those countries that have adopted a specific regulation on this matter, the social partners are called on to play a leading role to deal with the psychosocial risks arising from the permanent connection to work. In Spain, although this right is laid down in Organic Law 3/2018 (on the protection of personal data and digital rights), the protection granted to workers seems insufficient. For this reason, particular attention should be paid to initiatives such as the Fifth Agreement on Employment and Collective Bargaining (V AECB), that includes a specific chapter on the right to digital disconnection.
Comparing Whose Laws? Interrogating Biases in Comparative Law and Scholarship Through the Lens of Domestic Violence Workplace Leave
Authors: Vijeyarasa Ramona
Published: June 2024

This article invites comparative scholars to reflect on the biases that bury legislative good practice. These biases and their consequences are demonstrated through the example of paid workplace leave for victims of domestic violence, comparing laws enacted between the Philippines’ reforms in 2004 and more recent developments in New Zealand (2018) and Australia (2022). Three reasons for these legislative biases are offered, the foremost being an English language ‘imperialism’ where good practice legislation from Spain and Latin America has been overlooked. Second, a global ‘gender equality bias’ has framed global North nations – particularly traditionally- influential Nordic ones – as world leaders, while ignoring other even highly ranked global South countries. Finally, international feminist scholarship has inadvertently fostered a perception of the global South as lacking women-centred law reform from which other jurisdictions can learn. To support these claims, in Part 3, three models for workplace leave for victims of violence are examined, a review that takes us from the Philippines and Spain to eight Spanishspeaking jurisdictions, valuable models enacted before these English-speaking nations that have been deemed legislative ‘leaders’ in this domain. This article urges scholars of comparative law to see the potential for meaningful findings to be drawn from cross-border, multi-linguistic comparisons, requiring an active consciousness of the biases that must be overcome.
The Role of International Commercial Arbitration in Mastering Climate Change Disputes: Initiatives, Advantages, and Challenges
Authors: Asschenfeldt Kathrin , Ross Lisa-Marie
Published: June 2024

The number of disputes relating to climate change, and the embedded concerns of environmental and energy law, is growing rapidly. Increasingly, corporations and other non-state actors are parties to such disputes. This article analyses in detail the multifaceted types of disputes involving businesses, as well as the responses by international arbitration institutions. After highlighting how international commercial arbitration can resolve existing limitations in the adjudication of climate change-related disputes, the authors discuss such specific challenges as the consent of the parties, confidentiality of arbitral proceedings, and public interest restrictions. Identifying the potential for optimization, the authors argue that arbitration institutions are well advised to take a proactive approach in addressing the topic, and suggest how such institutions can provide guidelines to parties and tribunals on how to handle climate change-related disputes in arbitral proceedings. These guidelines can assist parties to jointly agree on a mechanism to increase the transparency of relevant arbitral proceedings, including the submission of amicus curiae briefs. In addition, lists of arbitrators and specialists with expertise in climate change-related fields of knowledge can be made available. Such guidelines and expert assistance aimed at increasing transparency, legitimacy, and accessibility, once adopted by parties and tribunals, would help make arbitration all the more tailored to handle climate change-related disputes.
The Concept of Arbitrability under the New York Convention: The Quest for Comprehensive Reform
Authors: van Zelst Bas , Masumy Naimeh
Published: June 2024

This article critically examines the interpretation of the concept of arbitrability under the New York Convention. Taking stock of divergent interpretations that pose challenges to achieving a uniform enforcement regime, the article proposes a pragmatic approach to interpreting arbitrability under the New York Convention, which seeks to minimize judicial interference and enhance the efficiency of enforcement procedures. By promoting the principle of Kompetenz- Kompetenz and advocating for greater transparency in public policy defences, this article contributes to the ongoing discussion on these issues. It aims to bridge jurisdictional divides by offering a harmonized interpretation of arbitrability that not only illuminates the theoretical underpinning of the concept, but also provides a roadmap for a more coherent and universally applicable interpretation. This will enhance predictability and efficiency in resolving cross-border disputes.
Environment and Climate Change in the EU-CA Association Agreement: Preliminary Recommendations for a Future Renegotiation
Authors: Medaglia Jorge Cabrera , Torres Yasmin Granados
Published: June 2024

This article seeks to generate some recommendations for the future improvement of the content of the Association Agreement (AA) between the European Union (EU) and Central America (CA). Although the political conditions for renegotiation are currently complex, it is possible to present some reflections on the provisions of the Agreement and its eventual modification, especially to strengthen synergies with the environmental and climate change commitments, such as the commitment to effectively implement the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement of the countries of the region. The article presents recommendations for potential renegotiation on key components of the Agreement, including the preamble; objectives; exceptions; sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS); technical barriers to trade; investment provisions; intellectual property rights; trade and sustainable development; dispute resolution; and cooperation and political dialogue.