Suchergebnisse

The author looks into the role & the position of judges in Croatia following the democratic changes of 1990 & Croatia's recognition as an independent state of 1991. Three events affected the status & the role of judges: (1) political independence (the formation of a nation-state), (2) state of emergency (war & semiwar), & (3) the changes in the political & the legal system. The author claims that the standard legal/positivist methods, justified in well-ordered & stable societies, are not entirely suitable for transitional societies. Besides the normative models he also provides a brief review of the practice, which deviates from the ideal. The author refers to the major events within the two periods: the wartime years (1991-1995) & the peacetime years (1996-1999). The author talks about the current social & institutional position of the courts & the judges, & points to certain potential sources of troubles for the future reformers. Adapted from the source document.

John Rawls has revised his theory of justice in recent works & turned it into a theory of political liberalism. This article analyzes three basic aspects of that theory as the theory of (political) fairness & attempts to document the consequences of the application of Rawls's concept of political liberalism as a transcendental framework for a rational political debate within the Croatian political context. Adapted from the source document.

According to his own words, Jefferson's guideline while composing the American Declaration of Independence was "to harmonize the political sentiments of the day." This text is an attempt to explain the meaning & the underlying tenor of that statement. It focuses on the analysis of the structure of the Declaration, which is both a political & legal text & is rooted in the rationalist tradition. Structured as a legal syllogism based on the unfamiliar premises at the time of its compilation, the Declaration anticipates, rather than reflects, the "sentiments of the day." Thomas Jefferson's greatness rests not only on the Declaration but also on his consistent application of its principles. Thus, the great American president made sure that through the centuries the dominant political & legal paradigm in the world would follow its stipulations to the letter. Adapted from the source document.

Introduction -- Part I Critical Perspectives on Collective Redress -- Evaluating Collective Redress: Models, Outcomes and Policy -- For the Defense: 28 Shades of European Class Actions -- Collectivization of Civil Procedure as a Negative Utopia? -- Part II Many Faces of Collective Litigation: National Perspectives From Europe -- Class Actions in Belgium: Did the Mountain Gave Birth to a Mouse? -- The Dawn of Collective Redress 3.0 in France -- Class Action and Group Litigation – a Norwegian Perspective -- Collective Redress from a Dutch and Transnational Perspective -- Rebooting Italian Class Actions -- Class Actions in the Nordic Legal Culture -- Challenges in Drafting and Application of the New Slovenian Collective Actions Act - Part III What Europe Can Learn from the World? Topical Models of Class Actions in non-European Jurisdictions -- Empirical Data and the Powerful Lessons Learnt About Class Actions in Quebec- Collective Redress in Brazil: Success or Disappointment -- Class Actions for Private and Public Interests. A Perspective From China -- A Comparative Study of the Class Action Model in Europe and South Africa -- Part IV Comparative Studies on Collective Actions -- The Lessons of Air Freight Cartel and Petrobras: The Mechanisms of Coordination of Parallel Collective Lawsuits in Several Jurisdictions? -- Transnational Collective Actions: Perspectives from America and Europe. .

Traditional court proceedings do not always offer practical and cost-appropriate way of resolving consumer disputes. Some authors consider that, in disputes between consumers and businesses, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is more effective, faster and cheaper. Insofar, consumer ADR (CADR) is seen as a useful instrument that helps consumers realize their right of access to justice. It is argued that the CADR is a flexible and faster method of enforcement of consumers' rights, and that CADR systems provide valuable information on the needs of applicants, while preserving confidentiality and increasing consumer satisfaction. However, while praised in theory, the CADR in real life has not reached the desired levels. It seems that both sides, businesses and consumers, lack awareness of ADR schemes and their benefits. In this paper we analyze the concept of CADR through compensatory collective redress, and explore whether current legal initiatives of the European Union (EU) are ultimately contributing to increasing consumer confidence in the internal market of the EU Member States. Special attention is paid to different barriers for the development of various ADR schemes. They are reflected not only in different ADR schemes, but also in the evaluation methods used to measure efficiency of the use of the (C)ADR. The EU Directive on Consumer ADR and Regulation on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) have attempted to set flexible rules that would assure quality of dispute resolution between entities in the EU. However, the EU initiatives so far leave many questions unanswered, in particulars the questions about supervision and financing of consumer ADR schemes, as well as the issues regarding purely internal harmonization of CADR practices. An example for considerable divergences are CADR proceedings in the neighboring Western Balkan states, such as Slovenia and Croatia.

An efficient system for the protection of civil and human rights is essential for the achievement of the ideals that are a precondition for joining the European Union (EU). This paper analyses the origins of the crisis of the Croatian judicial system and the factors that have brought the
length of court proceedings into the centre of professional and political debates. Strategies for accelerating civil proceedings featured in current attempts at reform are presented, with an emphasis on the ongoing procedural reforms in litigation, enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings.
At the end doubts are expressed about whether it is possible to make any important advances with the operations planned. Without an efficient judiciary, however, it is impossible to have a complete transition to the model of the democratic liberal state, and a dysfunctional judicial system can bring the implementation of economic reforms into question as well. To this extent, then, a thoroughgoing reform is of first-rate importance for the creation of the preconditions necessary for EU membership.