<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The paper critically observes the current legal and political happenings around the international multilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), including criticism for its rejection by the European Parliament in the year of 2012. This example is treated in the sense of the collision of values in today’s information society, e.g. political freedom on the one hand, and intellectual property rights on the other. The collision of values is balanced fairly by the laws, for example by the statutory licenses and compulsory licenses, too. This text also critically considers some aspects of the contemporary political ideology of information. The author considers the majority of the European public reaction to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement as fearful, irrational and populist by politicians. “Electronic Violence” remains violence like any other and everyone must have the courage to face it. The information society itself is based on the same values as any other human society. Likewise, the information society is prone to various vices, such as greed for foreign assets without any compensation. This greed is only masked by political rhetoric about freedom and human rights. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between legal ideology of information from legally regulated economic shifts.</abstract>

Political Freedom and Intellectual Property Rights: Conflict of values

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The article presents the Crimean conflict from Russian and Ukrainian standpoints, confronting them with international law analysis. It is worth to mention, that Crimean crisis is still extremely controversial, since both parties are justifying their actions with norms of international law. This article starts with brief introduction of historical background of the Crimean crisis. Second chapter assesses the Crimean secessionist movement claiming the right of self-determination, and its compliance with Ukrainian law. Third chapter examines Russia’s position and its actions on the basis of Russian law. Fourth chapter presents the international law analysis of events in Crimea and its current legal status. Results of the analysis are presented in a conclusion.</abstract>

Crimean conflict – from the perspectives of Russia, Ukraine, and public international law

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Despite the fact that Documentary Letters of Credit are involved in process of International Trade for many centuries, but their legal personality is very new and their life span is much shorter than their existence. In the middle of Eightieth Century, Lord Mansfield introduced legal aspects of LC operation for the first time to the Common Law System. Later, International Chamber of Commerce started to codified regulations regarding international operation of Documentary Letters of Credit in 1933 under the title of Uniform Customs and Practices for Documentary Letters of Credit and updated them constantly up to current date. However, many aspects of LC operation including fraud are not codified under the UCP which subjects them to national laws. Diversified nature of National Laws in different countries can be source of confusion and problem for many businessmen active in international operation of Documentary Letters of Credit. Such differences are more problematic in Common Law countries as a result of following precedent. For Example, legal aspects of International LC transactions under British Law are only based on case law, however, American Law addresses Letter of Credit Operation under Article 5 of Unified Commercial Code. Due to important role of English and American law in practice of international trade, current paper will try to compare their approach to autonomy principle of in LC operation, fraud rule as a recognized exception to it and search for answer to following questions what is definition of fraud, and what are standards of proof for fraud in LC operation, under English and American law?</abstract>

Autonomy Principle and Fraud Exception in Documentary Letters of Credit, a Comparative Study between United States and England

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The New Partnership for Africa’s Development is the latest in a long line of initiatives or framework intended by African leaders to place African continent on a path of growth and sustainable development. The development challenges that face Africa are enormous and varied. Th e crisis of political instability, bad governance, lack of peace and security, poverty and diseases like HIV/AIDs. NEPAD recognized peace and security as condition for good governance and sustainable development. Therefore, in absence of peace and security, democracy and good governance cannot strive and where there is no good governance, we cannot witness sustainable development. This paper argues that peace and security has been elusive in much of Africa. The failure of the Organisation of African Unity to ensure peace and security in Africa and to address Africa’s post-cold war legion of challenges, the successor organisation, the African Union and its attendant development programme, the NEPAD were established. The first issue which is critical to NEPAD is, solving armed conflict and civil unrest on the continent. Currently, twenty percent of the people of Africa are living in condition of conflict. These conditions cause terrible suffering and hold back economic development in the affected countries. The extent of conflict is so great that the whole continent is affected and this creates a major barrier to inward investment. On the resolution, NEPAD is in a position to make considerable progress. It was learnt in Sierra Lone that with concentrated international eff ort, conflict can be successfully ended and institutions of a properly functioning state can begin to be rebuilt. The paper therefore examines the origin of the NEPAD, NEPAD and challenges of peace and security in Africa and involvement of AU/NEPAD in Darfur and Cote D’Ivoire crises. It further discusses the AU/NEPAD conflict mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and resolution and draw conclusion.</abstract>

Appraising the Role of African Union: the New Partnership for Africa’s Development in Conflict prevention and Management in Africa

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The aim of this article is to analyse the possible implications of behavioural economics on regulatory law and government policy. In order to do so it first introduces and in short describe the current trends in behavioural economics through a quick look into the aim and history of this relatively new and innovative field of economics. Th e article then analyses the combination of this field of study with law in the form of a rather specific field of study called behavioural law and economics. The analyses of the possible impact on government policies and the regulation in certain areas then follow and result in suggestions of further possible interactions between law and economics.</abstract>

Behavioural Economics and its Implications on Regulatory Law

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Mandatory mediation obliges parties to the dispute to firstly seek out alternative and amicable form of dispute resolution before addressing the court. This could prove suitable in family law disputes where the focus is on maintaining the relationships aft er the dispute is resolved in the best interest of children. However this presumption does not need to apply to all cases. Domestic violence is a phenomenon of family law for centuries. The impact of the abuse between partners is immense. The article focuses on conditions, upon which the mediation could be mandated, what are the key elements of successful mediation and what are the challenges of mandatory mediation in respect of these elements. The article analyzes provisions of acts that regulate mediation in various states of USA with focus on the most controversial regulation in California. At the end it debates the relation of mandatory mediation and right to fair trial.</abstract>

Mandatory mediation in family law issues with domestic violence – limits and experience from USA

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The term “Islamic banking” denotes the banking services in compliance with Islamic law and is nowadays a rapidly expanding, global industry based on a traditional fourteen centuries old legal system. The European market is witnessing growing Shari’acompliant assets especially in the last few years and even non-Muslim countries have been trying to find legal solutions to accomodate Islamic financial institutions. This new academic and business field is raising important issues that merit discussion and this text serves as a contribution to the debate. In the paper I am trying to depict the key and distinguishing features of the Islamic banking model and reflect its law regulation from the point of view of the Czech legislation in the light of the continuing growth and expansion of Islamic banking and finance. The main objective of this article is to find out whether the legal framework of the Czech Republic covers the practice of Islamic finance and also to consider and identify potential legal obstacles.</abstract>

Islamic Banking: Regulatory Background from the Czech Perspective

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The contribution deals with the criminal liability of legal persons in case of computer crime. It is divided into three sections. The first section briefly introduces computer crime and relevant legislation of the European Union in the area of criminal law, which is the basis of that liability. While the second section is focused on provisions of criminal liability of legal persons, the third section is focused on sanctions for legal persons.</abstract>

Criminal Liability of Legal Persons in Case of Computer Crime: A European Union Response

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The paper deals with the admissibility of witness testimony in the preliminary proceeding which could be read in court without right of the defence to hear or examine such a witness. This question is particularly interesting with regard to preserving the adversarial principle which is important for an objective assessment of the facts. The focus will be to answer the question of whether so obtained and executed evidence may stand as the main evidence of guilt especially with regard to Article 6,par. 1 and 3 (d) ECHR (right to obtain attendance and examination of witnesses). The arguments in this paper will be submitted supported by the case law of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic and the ECtHR. Contribution will also deal with British law and the applicability of the so-called Hearsay rule and the exceptions to this rule which can be applied in criminal proceedings.</abstract>

Previous witness testimony as immediate or urgent action and its admissibility in court

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 23 (2023): Issue 2 (December 2023)

Volume 23 (2023): Issue 1 (August 2023) International Law and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Volume 22 (2022): Issue 2 (December 2022)

Volume 22 (2022): Issue 1 (July 2022)

Volume 21 (2021): Issue 2 (December 2021)

Volume 21 (2021): Issue 1 (June 2021)

Volume 20 (2020): Issue 2 (December 2020)

Volume 20 (2020): Issue 1 (June 2020)

Volume 19 (2019): Issue 2 (December 2019)

Volume 19 (2019): Issue 1 (June 2019)

Volume 18 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)

Volume 18 (2018): Issue 1 (June 2018)

Volume 17 (2017): Issue 2 (December 2017)

Volume 17 (2017): Issue 1 (June 2017)

Volume 16 (2016): Issue 2 (December 2016)

Volume 16 (2016): Issue 1 (June 2016)

Volume 15 (2015): Issue 2 (December 2015)

Volume 15 (2015): Issue 1 (June 2015)

Volume 14 (2014): Issue 2 (December 2014)

Volume 14 (2014): Issue 1 (June 2014)

Volume 13 (2013): Issue 2 (December 2013)

Volume 13 (2013): Issue 1 (June 2013)

Volume 12 (2012): Issue 2 (December 2012)

Volume 12 (2012): Issue 1 (June 2012)

Volume 11 (2011): Issue 2 (December 2011)

Volume 11 (2011): Issue 1 (June 2011)

International and Comparative Law Review

 International and Comparative Law Review is a peer-reviewed legal journal published by the Faculty of Law, Palacký University Olomouc (Czech Republic) in cooperation with Johannes Kepler Universität in Linz (Austria) and Karl-Franzens Universität in Graz (Austria). The articles are published mostly in English; occasionally contributions in German or French may be also accepted.  The journal has been published since 2001, peer-reviewed is since 2005. It is issued twice a year.  The aim of ICLR is to reflect expert research in the field of International law and EU Law as well as in legal orders both of the Czech Republic and other Member States of the European Union. Here the special emphasis is given to the legal systems of Central European Countries. The journal is comparative by its focus and with respect to this perspective it deals with all areas of law.  Rejection Rate:   40%   Why subscribe and read   Significant contribution to the legal studies in the field of international law, transnational law, EU law and comparative law as well as in related fields of research  Contact with the up-to-date research  Contact with the group of international of scholars   Why submit   Fair and constructive double-blind peer review  Fast and efficient publication process  Commitment to the quality of every article  Wide dissemination of content   Target group  researchers and experts in the field of International law and EU Law   Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 