ABANDONED AND FORGOTTEN? VIOLENT DEATHS OF PREVIOUSLY ABUSED FEMALE VICTIMS IN CROATIA

The paper is divided into two parts to facilitate a clearer understanding of different aspects of the violent death of previously abused female victims. The first part offers a brief overview of the most recent phenomenological conclusions on violence ending in death and explains the need to focus on gender differences in homicide victimisation. A bulk of research has confirmed that most women are more vulnerable to homicide within home and that the lethal outcome is an escalation of previously experienced abuse. In order to contribute to a more in-depth study of female intimate homicides, the authors focus on a variety of definitions and draw a clear line between the term femicide and the aggravated murder of a closely related person. In the second part of the paper, the authors have analysed the case-law of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia in which the perpetrators were found guilty of the criminal offence of aggravated murder of a closely related person (Art. 111, Para. 3 of the Criminal Code) in the period from 1 January 2013 to 1 June 2020. The research primarily focused on the circumstance of previous abuse, especially on the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator, the duration and frequency of abuse, and the reaction of the environment and competent authorities in cases where they knew about the abuse or when it was reported.

IGNIS, INCENDIUM, FORTUITUS CASUS – D. 19, 2, 9, 3 I OPASNOST ŠTETE OD POŽARA KOD LOCATIO FUNDI

The paper discusses the issues of the contents and the significance of Ulpian’s text D. 19, 2, 9, 3 within a wider context of allocation of risk in lease agreements and the place of fire, conflagration (incendium) among the different forms of vis maior in Roman legal sources. Considering the problem of subsequent impossibility of performance in locatio conductio (rei), D. 19, 2, 9, 3 stands out as the one mentioning periculum in relation to locatio fundi, however, it is burdened by different interpretations. The analysis in the article starts with the D. 19, 2, 9, 3 and then continues setting it in the context of other related texts in which the Roman jurists dealt with the problem of fire in lease agreements. The conclusion is drawn on the probable changes in the text as well as on the function of the term fortuitus casus in the line of the texts dealing with fire. It emphasizes the connection between fire (ignis) and conflagration (incendium) marked by the words fortuitus casus, which would show a differentiated approach to incendium as a form and an example of vis maior.

IZAZOVI PRAVNOG UREĐENJA UPOTREBE OSOBNIH PODATAKA IZ GENSKIH TESTOVA U SVRHU OSIGURANJA

The paper deals with the issue of using genetic tests for insurance purposes. After introductory remarks, the paper provides an overview of various international and European legal sources both on data protection in general, and on the protection of data from genetic tests. The paper then researches into different solutions proposed by comparative law concerning the use of data from genetic tests for insurance purposes. Some solutions explicitly ban the use of genetic tests for insurance purposes (France, Austria, Portugal, Croatia), while others adopt a more liberal approach, allowing for its use (the USA, the UK, Germany). It is concluded that personal data protection does not exclude the possibility using data from genetic tests for insurance purposes, which proves the need for a common EU approach to the issue.

OVERRIDING MANDATORY PROVISIONS IN CROATIAN PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW

Overriding mandatory provisions are mandatory provisions that are applicable in situations with an international element. The author analyses overriding mandatory norms in the European private international law and in the Croatian national private international law. The definition of such norms provided in the 2017 Croatian Private International Law Act is almost a verbatim copy of the definition provided in the Rome I Regulation on the law applicable to contractual obligations. The 1982 Croatian Private International Law Act did not provide for a definition of overriding mandatory norms but it was uniformly accepted in the scholarly interpretations that those types of mandatory norms were accepted by the Croatian private international law system. Moreover, the 1982 PIL Act included a substantive family law provision, which was, in essence, an overriding mandatory provision. However, Croatian courts and practitioners have been reluctant to refer explicitly to an applied norm as an overriding mandatory one. The reasons behind that might be that that the courts were better acquainted with the public policy exception, since public policy was explicitly mentioned in the 1982 PIL Act, as well as in some other legal acts. In addition, the legislator does not explicitly note that a provision is an overriding mandatory one in the provision itself, which leads to the outcome that the courts and other practitioners are burdened with a complex task of interpretation of a provision they think might be an overriding mandatory one. The author aims at providing guidelines to facilitate that task.

O AKTUALNOSTI CASUUM COMMORIENTIUM U RIMSKOM I SUVREMENOM EUROPSKOM PRIVATNOM PRAVU

In the Roman legal tradition, but also in modern civil law systems, the term commorientes (lat. commorientes) refers to persons who died in the same accident or other danger, standing in a legal position relevant to inheritance law. In connection with the resolution of such situations in the theory of private law, various legal presumptions have been developed since the period of classical Roman law. All these presumptions can be systematized within two basic concepts - the first based on the presumption of survival of subjects and the second based on the presumption of the simultaneous death of subjects. Comparatively, in the development of European private law, there has been a reception of both concepts, with the proviso that over time the concept of simultaneity will almost completely suppress the concept of survival. The paper analyzes the reasons for this. In establishing a link between Roman roots and European private law, special attention is given to the possibility of applying presumptions in cases where there is a certain spatial or temporal distance between the deaths of persons or if a different cause has led to fatal consequences. Ultimately, the paper clearly points to the importance of Roman rules, which can sometimes be fundamental in understanding the institutes of contemporary private law.

SOFT LAW AND SOVEREIGNTY – FROM A POLITICAL TO A LEGAL LIMITATION

Firstly, the author analyses the theory of sovereignty from the point of its birth and then he considers more recent theoretical challenges facing the notion of sovereignty in a globalised world. Particular attention is paid to soft law – that new, formally non-binding source of international law in the light of its factual influence on the desovereignisation of states. The author holds the position that the relativisation of the notion of sovereignty has been a process that began already in the 18th century and that has only additionally accelerated with new challenges posed by globalisation. The author argues for the only possible and proper use of the notion of sovereignty in its original meaning as an absolute, completely unlimited, and indivisible power. On the other hand, he takes a critical approach not only to the theory of constitutional pluralism but also to the ideas of the state’s legal sovereignty. He pleads for rejection of separating different aspects of sovereignty, artificially distinguishing between the factual and legal sovereignty, as well as the external and internal sovereignty. While theoretically possible, it is of no practical use because the notion of sovereignty can only be correctly understood as a political and legal illimitability. For all other various modalities and attempts at relativising and grading sovereignty, from the 18th century to this day, different terms should be coined. Being mindful of the situation in most of the present-day states, the author advocates the introduction of the term "pseudo-sovereignty".

INSTITUTITONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: THEORETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF MISSED INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

The activities of institutions have proven to be extremely important in achieving the economic growth and development of national economies. In addition, observed imbalances within the national economy can be minimized due to the contribution of institutions. Therefore, it is necessary to detect opportunities and activities that could, due to adequate institutional implementation, promote the development of a certain area. In the Republic of Croatia, in general, there is a low level of stimulating environment for small and medium sized enterprises as one of the economy drivers. Besides, the parts of the Republic of Croatia in which the primary sector predominates are generally much less developed (for instance, counties of Eastern Croatia). The aim of this paper is to examine the role and importance of institutions on economic development. In addition, it aims at detecting and describing the institutional obstacles in promotion of small and medium enterprises as well as in presenting the selected examples of missed institutional promotion within the primary sector, as an economic branch most represented in the parts of the Republic of Croatia whose development is much lower than the average or even the lowest. The paper predominantly uses theoretical descriptive methods with additional data given in order to confirm mentioned obstacles within the small and medium enterprises and primary sector.

POVIJESNI RAZVOJ PRAVA NA SAMOODREĐENJE IZMEĐU DVA RATA - LENJIN VS. WILSON

The end of the two great world wars and the disappearance of the current political regimes have resulted in the creation of new states in the international order. With the collapse of multinational states and awakening of national consciousness, the aspirations of peoples for their own national states started to appear. Requirements for self-determination resulted primarily from the decolonization process, but also as a reflection of political relations in the post-war Europe. At the end of the First World War, there were events and people contributing to the development of rights of the people to self-determination and helping the oppressed nations in achieving their aspirations to decide their own destiny within their own national states. On the one hand, there were the workers’ self-determination and revolution in Russia as essential elements in the development of the right to self-determination in the political principle and Lenin's attitudes on self-determination. On the other hand, there were fourteen points and US President Woodrow Wilson with his views on the right to self-determination.

APOTEOZA SOCIJALNE DRŽAVE: IMPERATIVNI ZAHTJEV OSTVARENJA SOCIJALNE PRAVDE U REPUBLICI HRVATSKOJ

By deliberate choice of the Croatian constitution-makers, the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia protects all economic, social and cultural rights guaranteed by constitutions of developed European democracies and by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to which Croatia is a party. This creates a dual (constitutional and international) obligation for the Croatian legislature to establish a socially just order. Although the constitutional text places both of the human rights generations within the same title, the constitutional jurisprudence adopted a position, whereby socioeconomic rights are excluded from the sphere of organic laws used to elaborate the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and freedoms. This development notwithstanding, the potential of their protection before the Constitutional Court has not been reduced, as the Court has developed an impressive list of doctrinal positions on the nature of social rights, committing to the concept of social state as a foundational element of European constitutionalism. Still, we would be remiss if we did not emphasize the Constitutional Court's passive stance towards the political branches of the government regarding the social rights and must therefore plead for a more active approach in that regard.

PRENESENI DJELOKRUG U LOKALNOJ SAMOUPRAVI: TEORIJSKA RAZMATRANJA I KOMPARATIVNA ISKUSTVA

After the abolition of the county administrative offices in January 2020, the tasks performed by the county administrative offices as first-instance state administration bodies were delegated to the counties, as the second level self-government units in Croatia. By this organizational change, the model of deconcentrated performance of state administration tasks was replaced by the model of administrative decentralization. In this context, the paper presents the features of the delegated scope of competence as an organizational performance model of state administration tasks in territorial units and administrative decentralization with a delegated scope of competence as an institutional result. The review of the scholarly literature on the delegated scope of competence and the effects of administrative decentralization is supported by a comparative review of the delegated scope of competence in the Czech and German local self-government. Based on theoretical considerations and comparative practices, the paper discusses the possible effects of the application of the delegated scope of competence in Croatian counties on their institutional development and performance of the delegated tasks.