The world health organization: The (un)attainable ideal?

The World Health Organization (WHO) is one of the UN specialized agencies. Its work and functions gained even more importance in 2020 with the emergence of the corona virus. The eyes of the entire international community focused on this organization and its Director General. Nowadays, its efficiency has been subject to various forms of criticism. In this paper, the author first provides a brief overview of this organization and its significance. The central part of the paper focuses on the activities of the WHO during the Covid-19 pandemic, through the clarification of the concept of public health emergency of international concern and the use of International Health Regulations. Finally, the author discusses the possible reform of this body. The aim of this paper is to familiarize the readers with the World Health Organization and put its activities in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Crime prevention through digitalization

Common crime prevention measures have not yielded the expected results. It is important to examine the possibilities of using the latest achievements in crime prevention. One of the available options is digitalization. Starting from the definition of digitalization as the use of digital technologies to change the business model and provide new opportunities for generating income and value, the author emphasizes that digitalization can be used as a measure to prevent crime. In this regard, some solutions for preventing crime through digitalization are embodied in the use of digital currencies, digital identities and signatures, smart devices, and mobile applications. The author elaborates on each of these solutions, focusing on specific crime prevention measures and examples from different countries worldwide. It may help crime prevention experts perceive digitalization as a measure for reducing the volume of crime. If the benefits of digitalization are put into good use, we can expect that the volume of property-related crimes, violence-related crimes and traffic delinquency will drop in the forthcoming period. On the other hand, the implementation of these measures may give rise to the commission of Internet-related crimes, thus leading to the increase in computer crime.

ICC Rules for the use of domestic and international trade terms: INCOTERMS 2020

The use of trade terms in sales contracts, especially international sales contracts, is customary and very common since it contributes to the acceleration of business transactions, concurrently increasing their certainty and predictability. The ICC Rules for the use of domestic and international trade terms -INCOTERMS 2020 have been in effective use since 1 January 2020. Their goal is to enable the development of global trade in an easier, more effective and safer manner. In this paper, the author analyses the development, importance and legal nature of INCOTERMS, with special reference to its current 2020 revision and particular focus on the seller's obligation to deliver the goods and risk transfer from the seller to the buyer.

Reasonable time frame in bankruptcy proceedings: Analysis of cases from the judicial practice of the Commercial Court in Niš

The Act on the Protection of the Right to a Trial within a Reasonable Time, which took effect in 2016, has created the conditions in our legal system for the protection of the right to a trial within a reasonable time, as one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and related international documents. Although the legislator does not explicitly provide for the application of this Act in the context of bankruptcy proceedings, it has been used in judicial practice as a mean for the bankruptcy creditors to obtain just satisfaction in cases involving lengthy bankruptcy proceedings and a violation of the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time. The subject matter of analysis in this paper is the right to a trial within a reasonable time in bankruptcy cases. For that purpose, the authors examine the case law of the Commercial Court in Niš in the period from the beginning of 2016 to the end of 2019, particularly focusing on the bankruptcy cases in which complaints (objections) were filed for the protection of the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time. The aim of the research is to examine whether the objection, as an initial act, is a suitable instrument for increasing the efficiency of the bankruptcy proceeding, or whether it only serves to satisfy the interests of creditors. The authors have also examined whether this remedy affects the overall costs and duration of the bankruptcy proceeding. The main finding is that there is an increasing number of objections in the Commercial Court in Niš, which still does not affect the length and costs of bankruptcy. This trend is not only the result of inactivity of the court and the complexity of certain cases but also of numerous external factors, the most prominent of which is the work of some state bodies.

Application of Brussels II bis regulation in exercising the right of access to a child by extended family members

In this paper, the author explores the sources of European Union Law that regulate one segment of parental responsibility - the right of access to a child. The focal point of research is the transition from the conventional (interstate) regulation of judicial cooperation in marital disputes and parental responsibility issues to the regulation enacted by the European Union institutions, with specific reference to the Brussels II bis Regulation. First, the author briefly points out to its relationship with other relevant international law sources regulating this subject matter: the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction; the Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in the Field of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children; and other international sources of law. Then, the author examines in more detail its relationship with the Brussels II bis recast Regulation, which will be applicable as of 1 August 2022. In addition, the paper includes an analysis of the first case in which the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decided on the application of the Brussels II bis Regulation, at the request of granparents to exercise the right of access to the child. On the issue of determining the competent court which has jurisdiction to decide on how this right shall be exercised, the CJEU had to decide whether the competent court is determined on the basis of the Brussels II bis Regulation or on the basis of national Private International Law rules. This paper is useful for the professional and scientific community because it deals (inter alia) with the issue of justification of adopting a special source of law at the EU level, which would regulate the issue of mutual enforcement of court decisions on the right of access to the child. This legal solution was proposed by the Republic of France, primarily guided by the fundamental right of the child to have contact with both parents.

Consolidation of democratic institutions: The case of Serbia

In recent years, the violation of the principles that guarantee the respect of democratic norms and institutions has placed Serbia into the category of deficient democracies, and more recently in hybrid regimes. Since the beginning of the transition, the implementation of political and economic reforms in Serbia has been characterized by frequent shifts of periods with modest progress in the field of political and economic transformation with periods of stagnation and even backsliding in regards to the important reform segments. The indicators of political and economic reforms point to the strengthening of extractive institutions. Extractive institutions protect the economic and political interests of privileged groups to the detriment of the rest of society. This leaves fewer resources available to stimulate economic growth and job creation, with negative countereffects on the regime legitimacy and trust, which are crucial for the implementation of economic reforms. Serbia's failure to provide stronger economic growth is largely caused by extractive institutions that determine the business environment. The development of extractive institutions is indicated by the absence of a more even distribution of political power, weaknesses in the mechanisms of checks and balances, deficiencies in the sphere of the rule of law, widespread corruption, problems in the sphere of protection of property rights. The transitional developments in Serbia can be regarded as a historical heritage that adapts to the current social environment and has a great impact on institutional performance and democratic consolidation. Prolonged exposure to extractive institutions creates a cumulative effect of institutional learning, where individuals become vulnerable to political abuse, dependent on the state and unwilling to use political mechanisms of government accountability, contributing to a vicious circle of extractive political and economic institutions. Identifying the mechanisms of such accumulation, which include prolonged exposure to extractive institutions, as well as the transmission of cultural patterns from older generations who have long experience with extractive institutions, is a complex research task.

The role of the European Food Safety Authority in the active substance approval and renewal procedures within the EU pesticide policy

The EU decentralised agencies are involved in various sectorial EU policies and related composite procedures. One of the agencies, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), has a prominent role in the composite procedures within the EU pesticide policy - the active substance approval and renewal procedures. These procedures represent the initial steps in the complex administrative process of placing on the market and control of use of plant protection products. The procedures are arranged under the linear risk analysis model within which the scientific risk assessment is performed by Member States and the EFSA, while the political risk management is performed by the Commission and Member States in the comitology procedure. After a brief analysis of the key stages and outcomes of the procedures, the paper discusses two topics. The first relates to the properties of three key aspects of the EFSA's role in the procedures: 1) involvement in adopting guidance documents; 2) publishing appropriate documents and deciding on confidentiality requests; and 3) preparing and submitting the conclusion, its main scientific output related to active substance. The second topic includes five elements of confidence in the EFSA regarding the course and outcome of the procedure: efficiency, independence, transparency, high scientific quality and effective risk communication. The paper discusses the properties of the elements, the main identified challenges associated with them, as well as ongoing and future responses to these challenges, especially those introduced by the Transparency Regulation, adopted in 2019 and applicable from 27 March 2021.

Consequences of Brexit on the competition law and policy of the United Kingdom and the European Union

The subject matter of this paper are the short-term and long-term consequences of Brexit, a historical event and a turning point in the development of the European Union (EU), as well as for the United Kingdom (UK) and the EU competition law and policy. The article first provides a comparative analysis of the historical development of legal regulation of competition in the UK and the EU, including relevant cases from the practice of competition authorities. In particular, the authors focus on the decisions of the European Commission regarding anti-cartel policy. The article further examines to what extent Brexit will influence the mergers and acquisitions policy, antitrust policy, anti-cartel policy, and state aid policy in the UK and the EU. The central question refers to the extent of Brexit's influence on the change of the UK and the EU business environment, and the repercussions that this change will have for the competition law. In the concluding remarks, the authors discuss the direction of future development of the UK competition law, particularly in terms of whether and to what extent the UK law will be harmonized with the EU competition law and case law in this area, or whether there will be a radical turn towards adopting a completely new concept of competition law and policy.

Civil liability for damage caused by a robot when performing a medical procedure

Robots in medicine, unlike industrial automation, can be viewed as an extension or enhancement of human capabilities. The legitimacy of robotics in the health care system stems from the fact that its use increases the efficiency of the treatment process and improves the health of an individual. On the other hand, involving robots in the medical procedures brings a high degree of risk and liability for damage. Legal doubts that arising in regard of the use of robots in medicine are related to civil liability for damage caused to the patient during the medical procedure. In that context, it is necessary to determine the model of indemnity liability that applies to damages due to the action of robots in a medical procedure. Which system shall be applied: the system of subjective liability based on fault (guilt), or the system of objective liability without determining the injurer's fault? This issue is gaining in importance given the degree of autonomy of robots in performing medical procedures. The paper will emphasize the need for legislative intervention in the Croatian legal system in order to adapt to the growing use of robots in medicine. The paper will summarize the results of the analysis on these issues and offer possible solutions in court practice and legal dogmatics.