Retrospective Operation of Amendments in Taxing Statues vis-à-vis Judicial Decisions

The cardinal principle of interpretation of a taxing statute is that every statute is prospective unless it is expressly stated that it is retrospective. The term retrospective means operating from a date in the past or taking effect from a past date. Thus, a taxing statute is said to have retrospective operation only when it is expressly or by necessary implication states that it will operate from a date in the past. The Indian revenue in spite of this settled principle of interpretation often tends to retrospectively impose tax for the purpose of gaining revenue. In addition to this, the Indian government has many times made retrospective amendments in the disguise of clarificatory and declaratory amendments. However, the Indian judiciary has always been the saviour of these kind of interpretations and amendments. The judiciary has given different principles both in favour of and against retrospective operation of taxing statutes. Thus, this paper first of all tries to identify the principles against and in favour of retrospective operation of taxing statutes. Then it explains about how a declaratory or clarificatory amendment of a taxing statute should be interpreted. Finally, it points out the rules laid down by the judiciary on retrospective operation of taxing statutes. Keywords: Clarificatory amendments, Declaratory amendments, Judicial rulings, Principles of interpretation, Retrospective operation.

Challenges Related to the Increase of Religious Diversity in the Light of the Judicial Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights

European states responded in different ways to tensions related to the increase in religious diversity, and the restrictions introduced were considered appropriate when they resulted from public security and the need to protect others, especially if the state presented a credible justification. On this occasion, the case-law of the ECHR developed two key concepts for the determination of the presence of religious symbols in public places: a powerful external symbol and an essentially passive symbol. An important achievement of the Tribunal is also the introduction of the concept of “improper proselytism.” Certainly, a further increase in religious diversity in Europe may lead to new areas of controversy, which will then be assessed by the ECHR. However, the existing instruments used by the Court, such as the idea of the Convention as a living document, the theory of the margin of appreciation or the analysis of the existence of the European consensus, enable it to develop its interpretation in this regard.

Employee’s work on the grounds of Polish Copyright Law

Motivation: Employees’ works are crucial in practice. The validity and need for discussions on the rights of the employer to the employee’s work is justified by the increasing concern for the observance of copyright, and also for employee–employer relations. By entering into an employment relationship, both parties must be aware of their rights and obligations. Aim: This article presents the issue of copyright status of an employee’s work regulated in the Article 12 and 13 of the Act on copyright and related rights. The considerations focus on the legal relationship between the employer and the employee-author, and the issue of acquiring author’s economic rights to the work created by the employee within the employment relationship. The article is based on the analysis of legal regulations and judicial decisions. Results: Regulating rights to the work created by the employee is dependent on the will of the parties. It is only the absence of contractual terms in this respect that results in a reference to the statutory provisions, which define the rules of transferring copyright for the employee’s work to the employer. Article 12 of the Act on copyright and related rights specifies grounds for secondary acquisition of copyright by the employer. One should remember that this regulation concerns solely author’s economic rights because author’s moral rights, which due to their nature are non-transferable, remain with the author or employee.

POLISH REGULATORY POLICY AIMED AT COUNTERACTING ALCOHOLISM AS AN ELEMENT OF ENSURING SAFETY IN TOURISM – THE CASE OF TRAVEL INSURANCE

Purpose. The aim of the article is to assess whether the current legal framework on travel insurance contracts allows the regulations in question to be included in the legal instruments that both ensure safety in tourism and constitute an element of the regulatory policy aimed art counteracting alcoholism and the negative effects of alcohol consumption. Method. The main method used in the submitted article is the legal dogmatic method, which, however, is not used in the strict sense. Additionally, analysis of the normative text is supplemented with the author's independent reference to judicial decisions and legal doctrine. Findings. Analysis of legal regulations and judicial decisions allows to indicate that the structure of travel insurance makes it an element of the regulatory policy aimed at counteracting alcoholism. Accidents can often be classified as insurance events within the meaning of various types of insurance contracts, including travel insurance. Therefore, the structure of these agreements cannot assume the form of a specific sanction for alcohol consumption. However, to ensure the fullest possible safety in tourism, insurance events of this type should not be excluded from the liability of insurers without deeper reflection on the purpose of this kind of protection, also within the context of the policy aimed at counteracting addictions and their effects on health and life. Research and conclusions limitations. The legal analysis is focused on the Polish legal regulation of the issue. Practical implications. The conducted research may be an indication for the creation of mandatory regulations regarding travel insurance contracts, as well as the content of the contracts themselves and general insurance conditions. Originality. Research on regulatory policy that is rarely of interest to legal scientists. Type of paper. In the article, theoretical concepts are presented. This text is an overview in nature.

Standards of fair justice and their relationship to standards of proof in criminal proceedings

The purpose of the article is to define the concept, system and content of fair justice standards and outline their relationship to standards of evidence in criminal proceedings. The purpose of the study is to reveal the content of the right to a fair trial, distinguish fair justice standards and establish its relationship with standards of evidence in criminal proceedings. The research methodology consists of comparative law, structural system methods and formal legal methods. The study found that testing standards are covered by justice standards, expanding, specifying, and clarifying their content. The content of the fair justice standards "examination of the case by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law", "adversarial procedure", "equality of the parties", "frankness of the examination of evidence", "presumption of innocence" and reveals the "motivation of judicial decisions". It is concluded that each of these concepts is a heuristic contribution to test standards. As a result of the study, the author's definition of the concept of "fair justice standards" is formulated and the concept is based on its relationship with the standards of evidence in criminal proceedings.

The prosecutor's judicial protection of public interests in the use and protection of specially protected natural territories as a complex area of prosecutorial activity

The article deals with the topical issue of highlighting the complex direction of prosecutorial activity – the protection by the prosecutor in court of public interest in the use and protection of specially protected natural territories based on the scope of legal relations and the purpose of the activity. Taking into account the available theoretical approaches, the author proves that three criteria are basis for the allocation: 1) the complex nature of the legal regulation of the sphere of use and protection of specially protected natural territories; 2) the need to adopt a set of means of prosecutorial activity for violations of the regime of use and protection of specially protected natural territories in court; 3) the unity of the factual circumstances to be established in criminal, civil, arbitration, administrative cases, cases of administrative offences on the facts of violation of the regime of use and protection of specially protected natural territories, which in turn allows, firstly, the collected evidence to be used in criminal, civil, arbitration, administrative proceedings, in proceedings on administrative offences (respectively, unified approaches to collecting and fixing evidentiary information are required), secondly, the prejudice of judicial decisions. The allocation of an integrated direction makes it possible to improve the quality of the organisation and implementation of judicial protection of public interest in the use and protection of specially protected natural territories.

Limites Éticos para o Uso da Inteligência Artificial no Sistema de Justiça Brasileiro, de Acordo com a Lei 13.709 de 2018 (LGPD) e Resoluções 331 e 332 do Conselho Nacional de Justiça

This research analyzes how artificial intelligence has been applied by the Judiciary in Brazil. What ethical limits should be established and observed in the implementation of Artificial Intelligence before the Resolutions of the CNJ, n. 331 that established the National Database of the Judiciary – DataJud, n. 332 that provides for ethics, transparency and Governance in the production and use of Artificial Intelligence in the Judiciary and Law 13,709 of 2018 that regulates data protection in Brazil. It is concluded that based on the Ethics on the use of Artificial Intelligence in Judicial Systems (CEPEJ), based on Articles 5, XXXVII and LIII, Article 93, IX of the CF/88, Article 20 of 13,709/2018 (LGPD) and Resolutions 331 and 332/2020 of the CNJ point to the need for human supervision in judicial decisions that use artificial intelligence in observance of the right of explanation and review. There are ethical limits to be observed in the production and use of Artificial Intelligence to avoid the bias and opacity of data that may contaminate judicial decisions from absolute nullity. Deductive method and bibliographic technique are used for the production of this article.

Urgent applications in French administrative justice

The institute of urgent judicial decisions is a special procedure for administrative justice bodies in France, which allows to prescribe effectively and quickly a wide range of necessary measures (from the appointment of expert examinations to the suspension of normative administrative acts) and to protect the legitimate interests of individuals and organizations. There are two main categories of urgent judicial decisions, accordingly their functional purpose. The procedural features of urgent judicial decisions are related to the obligation of the French administrative courts to establish conditions for urgency and the need to prescribe certain measures as a matter of urgency. These criteria, being evaluative, are specified by the jurisprudence of the French administrative courts, according to which the judge determines whether there is a threat of causing immediate and sufficiently serious harm to the interests of the applicant and whether there is a need to take urgent measures, taking into account the circumstances of the case. At the same time, the urgent applications judge does not consider the case, but sets temporary measures that can be changed in the course of further proceedings. The article suggests creating mechanisms in Russian law that are similar to those existing in the French legal regulation of urgent judicial decisions in administrative cases. In particular, the author suggests expanding the powers of Russian courts to suspend normative administrative acts and individual decisions when courts take measures of preliminary protection in administrative claims.