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This master thesis analyses the private enforcement of competition law in private international law. It should be noted that competition law can be implemented under two methods: (a) public enforcement (regulatory norms that preserves the proper competition policy); (b) private enforcement (by allowing to seek redress for those who are victims of acts of anti-competitive or restrictive practices). As the international economy develops, with the increasing competitiveness of its entities, there is an expanding need to address the issue of applicable law. However, if such a dispute arises in two EU countries, then the applicable law and procedural redress transactions are governed by the Rome II Regulation and Directive of antitrust damages actions (since 2017). Furthermore, this directive harmonizes the regulation in the EU member states' domestic legal systems. Moreover, at EU level, the enforcement of private competition law is being resolved. Nevertheless, practically this institute is not applicable. The key to this problem is the lack of successful precedents. However, given the fact that UK declared to be leaving EU, this may affect not only the domestic law of UK, but additionally the application of the above-mentioned EU legislation. Although the effects of Brexit are not yet foreseen, predictions can already be made now. It goes without saying that the EU has commercial ties not only with the Member States but also with the third countries. Thus, in cases of vulnerability, such as the markets of Japan and the EU Member States, the issue of applicable law arises. Notwithstanding, the EU has concluded international agreements with the third countries and these agreements are considered to have an impact on public but not private competition law. Hence, the paper scrutinizes conceivable rules under the private international law.

This master thesis analyses the private enforcement of competition law in private international law. It should be noted that competition law can be implemented under two methods: (a) public enforcement (regulatory norms that preserves the proper competition policy); (b) private enforcement (by allowing to seek redress for those who are victims of acts of anti-competitive or restrictive practices). As the international economy develops, with the increasing competitiveness of its entities, there is an expanding need to address the issue of applicable law. However, if such a dispute arises in two EU countries, then the applicable law and procedural redress transactions are governed by the Rome II Regulation and Directive of antitrust damages actions (since 2017). Furthermore, this directive harmonizes the regulation in the EU member states' domestic legal systems. Moreover, at EU level, the enforcement of private competition law is being resolved. Nevertheless, practically this institute is not applicable. The key to this problem is the lack of successful precedents. However, given the fact that UK declared to be leaving EU, this may affect not only the domestic law of UK, but additionally the application of the above-mentioned EU legislation. Although the effects of Brexit are not yet foreseen, predictions can already be made now. It goes without saying that the EU has commercial ties not only with the Member States but also with the third countries. Thus, in cases of vulnerability, such as the markets of Japan and the EU Member States, the issue of applicable law arises. Notwithstanding, the EU has concluded international agreements with the third countries and these agreements are considered to have an impact on public but not private competition law. Hence, the paper scrutinizes conceivable rules under the private international law.

This master thesis analyses the private enforcement of competition law in private international law. It should be noted that competition law can be implemented under two methods: (a) public enforcement (regulatory norms that preserves the proper competition policy); (b) private enforcement (by allowing to seek redress for those who are victims of acts of anti-competitive or restrictive practices). As the international economy develops, with the increasing competitiveness of its entities, there is an expanding need to address the issue of applicable law. However, if such a dispute arises in two EU countries, then the applicable law and procedural redress transactions are governed by the Rome II Regulation and Directive of antitrust damages actions (since 2017). Furthermore, this directive harmonizes the regulation in the EU member states' domestic legal systems. Moreover, at EU level, the enforcement of private competition law is being resolved. Nevertheless, practically this institute is not applicable. The key to this problem is the lack of successful precedents. However, given the fact that UK declared to be leaving EU, this may affect not only the domestic law of UK, but additionally the application of the above-mentioned EU legislation. Although the effects of Brexit are not yet foreseen, predictions can already be made now. It goes without saying that the EU has commercial ties not only with the Member States but also with the third countries. Thus, in cases of vulnerability, such as the markets of Japan and the EU Member States, the issue of applicable law arises. Notwithstanding, the EU has concluded international agreements with the third countries and these agreements are considered to have an impact on public but not private competition law. Hence, the paper scrutinizes conceivable rules under the private international law.

This master thesis analyses the private enforcement of competition law in private international law. It should be noted that competition law can be implemented under two methods: (a) public enforcement (regulatory norms that preserves the proper competition policy); (b) private enforcement (by allowing to seek redress for those who are victims of acts of anti-competitive or restrictive practices). As the international economy develops, with the increasing competitiveness of its entities, there is an expanding need to address the issue of applicable law. However, if such a dispute arises in two EU countries, then the applicable law and procedural redress transactions are governed by the Rome II Regulation and Directive of antitrust damages actions (since 2017). Furthermore, this directive harmonizes the regulation in the EU member states' domestic legal systems. Moreover, at EU level, the enforcement of private competition law is being resolved. Nevertheless, practically this institute is not applicable. The key to this problem is the lack of successful precedents. However, given the fact that UK declared to be leaving EU, this may affect not only the domestic law of UK, but additionally the application of the above-mentioned EU legislation. Although the effects of Brexit are not yet foreseen, predictions can already be made now. It goes without saying that the EU has commercial ties not only with the Member States but also with the third countries. Thus, in cases of vulnerability, such as the markets of Japan and the EU Member States, the issue of applicable law arises. Notwithstanding, the EU has concluded international agreements with the third countries and these agreements are considered to have an impact on public but not private competition law. Hence, the paper scrutinizes conceivable rules under the private international law.

Analysis of this Master's Paper is developed in three directions: firstly, the author summarized the issues of the international and national criminal law. Attention is drawn to the place of the international treaties in the Lithuanian law, focusing on the national criminal law implications of such treaties; attempting to determine the possibility of direct application of the treaties in the criminal law. The author concludes that international treaties regulating the matters that are relevant to criminal justice should be transferred to national laws. The second part of the Paper analyses the significance of the treaties on the protection of universal human rights and freedoms, such as the Universal Charter on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECPHRFF) and of the conventions adopted by the United Nations Organization in general, to the criminal law of Lithuania. The author does not aim at defining the importance of the particular rules of law to the national criminal law, and distinguishes instead the trends of the national criminal law implications. Analyzing the ECPHRFF, the author emphasizes the special character of this international treaty also drawing attention to the problem of interaction between the blanket dispositions constructed in the Lithuanian criminal law and the principle of nullum crimen sine lege guaranteed by the Convention. The Master's Paper concludes that implementation of the international legal acts guaranteeing the protection of personal rights in terms of criminal law of Lithuania is being implemented with sufficient accuracy. In the final part of the Master's Paper the relevance of the European Union (EU) law with regard to the national criminal law is summarized. In the first instance the author draws attention to the issue of relevance of the primary EU law to the national criminal law, which practically has not been analyzed by the Lithuanian scientists. Analyzing separate types of the secondary legislation passed by the EU authorities, in the first instance the features of each legal act – regulation, directive, decision, framework decision, general actions, recommendations, opinions, guidelines and conventions – are distinguished. The author aims at disclosing the manner in which the features of each secondary legal act of the EU influence the national criminal law. Also, the possibilities of the direct application of regulations, directives and decisions in the national law are elaborate. The author concludes that it is the secondary legislation by means of which the criminal law of the Member States is being approximated, whereas appropriate implementation of the secondary legislation of the EU, as a rule, requires corrections of the criminal law.

Analysis of this Master's Paper is developed in three directions: firstly, the author summarized the issues of the international and national criminal law. Attention is drawn to the place of the international treaties in the Lithuanian law, focusing on the national criminal law implications of such treaties; attempting to determine the possibility of direct application of the treaties in the criminal law. The author concludes that international treaties regulating the matters that are relevant to criminal justice should be transferred to national laws. The second part of the Paper analyses the significance of the treaties on the protection of universal human rights and freedoms, such as the Universal Charter on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECPHRFF) and of the conventions adopted by the United Nations Organization in general, to the criminal law of Lithuania. The author does not aim at defining the importance of the particular rules of law to the national criminal law, and distinguishes instead the trends of the national criminal law implications. Analyzing the ECPHRFF, the author emphasizes the special character of this international treaty also drawing attention to the problem of interaction between the blanket dispositions constructed in the Lithuanian criminal law and the principle of nullum crimen sine lege guaranteed by the Convention. The Master's Paper concludes that implementation of the international legal acts guaranteeing the protection of personal rights in terms of criminal law of Lithuania is being implemented with sufficient accuracy. In the final part of the Master's Paper the relevance of the European Union (EU) law with regard to the national criminal law is summarized. In the first instance the author draws attention to the issue of relevance of the primary EU law to the national criminal law, which practically has not been analyzed by the Lithuanian scientists. Analyzing separate types of the secondary legislation passed by the EU authorities, in the first instance the features of each legal act – regulation, directive, decision, framework decision, general actions, recommendations, opinions, guidelines and conventions – are distinguished. The author aims at disclosing the manner in which the features of each secondary legal act of the EU influence the national criminal law. Also, the possibilities of the direct application of regulations, directives and decisions in the national law are elaborate. The author concludes that it is the secondary legislation by means of which the criminal law of the Member States is being approximated, whereas appropriate implementation of the secondary legislation of the EU, as a rule, requires corrections of the criminal law.

Analysis of this Master's Paper is developed in three directions: firstly, the author summarized the issues of the international and national criminal law. Attention is drawn to the place of the international treaties in the Lithuanian law, focusing on the national criminal law implications of such treaties; attempting to determine the possibility of direct application of the treaties in the criminal law. The author concludes that international treaties regulating the matters that are relevant to criminal justice should be transferred to national laws. The second part of the Paper analyses the significance of the treaties on the protection of universal human rights and freedoms, such as the Universal Charter on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECPHRFF) and of the conventions adopted by the United Nations Organization in general, to the criminal law of Lithuania. The author does not aim at defining the importance of the particular rules of law to the national criminal law, and distinguishes instead the trends of the national criminal law implications. Analyzing the ECPHRFF, the author emphasizes the special character of this international treaty also drawing attention to the problem of interaction between the blanket dispositions constructed in the Lithuanian criminal law and the principle of nullum crimen sine lege guaranteed by the Convention. The Master's Paper concludes that implementation of the international legal acts guaranteeing the protection of personal rights in terms of criminal law of Lithuania is being implemented with sufficient accuracy. In the final part of the Master's Paper the relevance of the European Union (EU) law with regard to the national criminal law is summarized. In the first instance the author draws attention to the issue of relevance of the primary EU law to the national criminal law, which practically has not been analyzed by the Lithuanian scientists. Analyzing separate types of the secondary legislation passed by the EU authorities, in the first instance the features of each legal act – regulation, directive, decision, framework decision, general actions, recommendations, opinions, guidelines and conventions – are distinguished. The author aims at disclosing the manner in which the features of each secondary legal act of the EU influence the national criminal law. Also, the possibilities of the direct application of regulations, directives and decisions in the national law are elaborate. The author concludes that it is the secondary legislation by means of which the criminal law of the Member States is being approximated, whereas appropriate implementation of the secondary legislation of the EU, as a rule, requires corrections of the criminal law.

Analysis of this Master's Paper is developed in three directions: firstly, the author summarized the issues of the international and national criminal law. Attention is drawn to the place of the international treaties in the Lithuanian law, focusing on the national criminal law implications of such treaties; attempting to determine the possibility of direct application of the treaties in the criminal law. The author concludes that international treaties regulating the matters that are relevant to criminal justice should be transferred to national laws. The second part of the Paper analyses the significance of the treaties on the protection of universal human rights and freedoms, such as the Universal Charter on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECPHRFF) and of the conventions adopted by the United Nations Organization in general, to the criminal law of Lithuania. The author does not aim at defining the importance of the particular rules of law to the national criminal law, and distinguishes instead the trends of the national criminal law implications. Analyzing the ECPHRFF, the author emphasizes the special character of this international treaty also drawing attention to the problem of interaction between the blanket dispositions constructed in the Lithuanian criminal law and the principle of nullum crimen sine lege guaranteed by the Convention. The Master's Paper concludes that implementation of the international legal acts guaranteeing the protection of personal rights in terms of criminal law of Lithuania is being implemented with sufficient accuracy. In the final part of the Master's Paper the relevance of the European Union (EU) law with regard to the national criminal law is summarized. In the first instance the author draws attention to the issue of relevance of the primary EU law to the national criminal law, which practically has not been analyzed by the Lithuanian scientists. Analyzing separate types of the secondary legislation passed by the EU authorities, in the first instance the features of each legal act – regulation, directive, decision, framework decision, general actions, recommendations, opinions, guidelines and conventions – are distinguished. The author aims at disclosing the manner in which the features of each secondary legal act of the EU influence the national criminal law. Also, the possibilities of the direct application of regulations, directives and decisions in the national law are elaborate. The author concludes that it is the secondary legislation by means of which the criminal law of the Member States is being approximated, whereas appropriate implementation of the secondary legislation of the EU, as a rule, requires corrections of the criminal law.

Municipal international cooperation is the main tool that enables municipalities to use the good practice of foreign countries, share mutually important information in the fields of government, economics, social protection, environment protection and other. Municipal international cooperation that is legalized by the agreements of local institutions, unites the whole world, encourages communities to communicate, increases mutual trust between nations and develops a dialogue. Despite the fact that thousands of city cooperation agreements are signed world-wide (more than 39 thousand of co-major and medium- sized cities had such agreements in Europe in 2010), the international relations of the local communities have not been extensively researched in this field. We have to agree with the researcher H. Buis (2009) who expressed the view that the local authorities having the ability and competencies to successfully influence and improve the cooperation process could pay more attention and put more resources to the field. The aim of the article is to analyze the situation and development tendencies of municipal international cooperation in Šiauliai County municipalities. The analysis and systematization of Lithuanian and foreign authors' scientific publications, research results, internet sources, legislation of the Republic of Lithuania and the European Union, and the research on municipal international cooperation in Šiauliai County municipalities under the expert evaluation method, enabled to reveal the peculiarities of cooperation relations establishment and development, evaluate usefulness of the activities and identify problems. [.]

Municipal international cooperation is the main tool that enables municipalities to use the good practice of foreign countries, share mutually important information in the fields of government, economics, social protection, environment protection and other. Municipal international cooperation that is legalized by the agreements of local institutions, unites the whole world, encourages communities to communicate, increases mutual trust between nations and develops a dialogue. Despite the fact that thousands of city cooperation agreements are signed world-wide (more than 39 thousand of co-major and medium- sized cities had such agreements in Europe in 2010), the international relations of the local communities have not been extensively researched in this field. We have to agree with the researcher H. Buis (2009) who expressed the view that the local authorities having the ability and competencies to successfully influence and improve the cooperation process could pay more attention and put more resources to the field. The aim of the article is to analyze the situation and development tendencies of municipal international cooperation in Šiauliai County municipalities. The analysis and systematization of Lithuanian and foreign authors' scientific publications, research results, internet sources, legislation of the Republic of Lithuania and the European Union, and the research on municipal international cooperation in Šiauliai County municipalities under the expert evaluation method, enabled to reveal the peculiarities of cooperation relations establishment and development, evaluate usefulness of the activities and identify problems. [.]

Cyber has been around for over a decade and yet we are still faces with a situation of a very weak or rather no regulation. This is being heavily influenced by our weak technological development and due to the nature of cyberspace and the Internet. Cyber warfare poses interesting questions for us. It is one of a kind type of warfare, the one we cannot see or feel, but it's impacts are instantaneous and potentially devastating. States and scholars agree on that. This thesis attempts to explore possibilities of application of existing international laws to amend this situation and answer the questions if it is adequate or at all possible. While scholars are still arguing about the basics of what cyber warfare and cyberspace actually is, it keeps on evolving. States on the other hand have recognized the potential threat of cyber warfare a long time ago and are attempting to mend the existing legal void, however not successfully. The effects of their efforts are limited only to a small number of States. States who are not willing to give up their cyber capability would also stay clear from such international legislation. International treaties and State practice were analyzed in search of a way to accommodate cyber warfare under the current regime. The findings show that application of existing legal basis to cyber warfare is at best difficult and strained. The reality is that cyber warfare does not fit adequately under any of the legal umbrellas at the moment. Application of existing laws generates even more drawbacks than it in the end covers. There is potential for future development however. States are inclined to negotiate and, even as we speak, are attempting at creation of a cyber warfare regulating treaty. The thesis concludes that current international law is not adequate in order to be applicable to cyber warfare and even in areas where it can afford minimal protection, potential for abuse exists. The criteria and standards which were appropriate to conventional warfare and armed conflict are outdated. At least a global understanding on the terms used to define cyber warfare and related terms would be a good starting point. A universally accepted convention would be the perfect solution.