European Legal Systems

Stella Ghervas (2017). "Balance of Power vs. Perpetual Peace: Paradigms of European Order from Utrecht to Vienna, 1713-1815", The International History Review, 39, 3 (2017): 404-425.

Abstract:
"Over the course of the eighteenth century, two major models of European international order emerged as alternatives to universal monarchy: one was based on the balance of power; the other centred on the idea of perpetual peace. This article traces each back to its origins in debates around the moment of the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. In particular, it examines the evolution of the doctrine of balance of power in early eighteenth-century English political thought and then as a legal principle incorporated into the Treaty of Utrecht, before proceeding to the counter-proposal in the form of the Abbé de Saint-Pierre's "Plan of Perpetual Peace" and the objections it raised. It then shows how Saint-Pierre's paradigm of a league of European states found (albeit in altered form) its way into the Treaty of the Holy Alliance (1815) proposed by Tsar Alexander I after the defeat of Napoleon. It concludes by highlighting the fundamental soundness of the idea of European league, as well as the flaws inherent in the early model of Saint-Pierre."

To link to this article: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07075332.2016.1214613

It is highly likely that the ancient practice of Greek pledge, so-called enechyron, finds its origin in an executive practice even older, called enechyrasia, which – even if extremely interesting from a historic-comparative point of view – represents an area of the study of Greek law only partially investigated. According to Ugo Enrico Paoli, still in the Classical period the seizure of debtors’ goods in the course of execution proceedings would have shared with the “consensual” pledge the same scope, i.e. a purely psychological coercion towards the debtor. However, on the basis of an analysis of the sources available and, in particular, of some aspects of the first enechyrasia recalled in the Demosthenic oration Against Euergos and Mnesiboulos (XLVII) and of the seizure to which reference is made in Antiphon’s speech On the Choreutes (VI), this essay reconstructs the real meaning and, above all, the historical development of the legal institution of execution by seizure, so as to call into question such assumption.

The first round of the litigation between the General Court of the EU (further GC) and the Council of the EU started on December, 17 th 2014 when the GC decided to make null and void a plethora of measures on which Hamas and the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) were charged and put on the EU sanction list related to banned terrorist organizations. The GC's decision whose decision was described by the Council as 'absurd' found out that the Council had failed to demonstrate irrefutable evidences by referring to terror acts in the statement of reasons that have taken place after national decisions had been implemented. The GC observed that the Council had violated Article 1 (4) of the Council Common Position (2001) as the Council did not ground its body of evidence to prolong the EU terror listing of Hamas and LTTE on credible information sources vetted by competent authorities, but rather counted on information that had been collected from mass media sources. Prior to this decision, Hamas and LTTE have successfully managed to challenge number of evidences stated by the Council. Both entities have aimed at delisting from the EU list of terrorist organizations. To wit, they never questioned their initial placement on the list. On the 20 th of January 2015, the Council of the EU appealed the judgment regarding Hamas (in Case T-400/10-Hamas v. Council) by pointing out that freezing the assets and funds of terrorist organization is of critical importance to the EU in its fight against terrorism (Council Common Position of 27.12.2001 on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism). In a statement issued by HRVC Mrs. Mogherini on the 19 th of January 2015 was stated that 'the EU institutions have been studying carefully other appropriate remedial actions that may be taken to avoid possible annulments in the future within the ongoing review process of EU autonomous measures to combat terrorism'. Mrs. Eleanor Sharpston acting as Advocate General (further AG) of the ECJ expressed on the 22th of September 2016 her opinion on the appeal (cases C-599/14 (LTTE) and C-79/15 (Hamas)) by upholding the final conclusion of the GC by stating that the challenged issues in both cases have to be revoked by simultaneously disagreeing with the GC on a number of reasonings. She recommended the Council's appeal to be upheld due to substantial defaults carried out by the GC. The GC failed, according to the opinion expressed by the AG, to explicitly examine all of the circumstances provided by the Council for keeping Hamas and LTTE on the EU list of terrorist organization. Although important, the opinion voiced by the AG, does not have an obligatory impact on the ECJ's final decision. The ECJ might follow the uttered opinion of AG, but it can reverse the General Court's (GC) orders of annulment. But even if the ECJ decides to stick to the final ruling uttered by the GC and the AG, the Council still can overrule the judgement by keeping both organizations on the list referring to terrorist organizations in the EU. Historic facts Hamas and LTTE were designated as terrorist organizations based on a decision expressed in the Council Common Position (2001) on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism (2001/931/CFSP). Following this decision, assets and funds of both organizations have been put on hold, and list of persons and groups involved in terrorism activities have been

This contribution, previously published in the EU law analysis blog, aims at providing a preliminary analysis of the impact of the recent case law on language discrimination in EPSO competitions. These cases are particularly interesting because 1) they allow speculations on the structure of the equality scrutiny and 2) they challenge the "interest of service" justification, according to which the Institutions can limit their languages to German, English and French.

En este trabajo se analiza la evolución del Derecho penal y Penitenciario del Reino de Suecia, y la de su Servicio Penitenciario y de Probation. Asimismo, se efectúa una evaluación de la influencia de la legislación penitenciaria en los debates que tuvieron lugar durante el período de la Historia Española conocido como de "Transición". Finalmente, la conclusión apunta a la actualidad de esta evolución y a los factores que pueden causar retrocesos.
Palabras clave:
Derecho penal y penitenciario sueco | Historia del Derecho penal sueco | Kriminalvården | Transición Española | Derecho penitenciario español

This paper analyses the evolution of the Swedish Criminal and Prison law, and that of its Prison and Probation Service. It also makes an assessment of the influence of legislation on the debates that took place during the period of Spanish History known as the "Transition". Finally, the conclusion tries to show some current debates and the factors that can cause setbacks in the evolution exposed.
Key Words:
Swedish Criminal and Prison Law | Swedish Legal History | Kriminalvården | Spanish Transition | Spanish Prison Law

Firstly, European civilization has been complex for centuries. After the disintegration of the Roman Empire, Europe divided. For the sake of religion and sect, there was a constant war on the European continent because of the greed of the leaders. Europe, divided into small principalities, feudal lords, and small kingdoms, was far behind Eastern civilization. In Europe, which was recovered by the influence of reform and the Renaissance, the central kingdoms were now strengthened. From the 1500s to the 1618s, there were states in Europe that could be considered strong. These; Spain, which has filled its treasure to the brim due to geographical discoveries, Sweden, Austria Habsburgs, France, Denmark…Leaving the sectarian wars behind the enlightenment and reform, Europe entered into a total war because of a sectarian struggle. Although we look at the cause of this war as a sectarian fight, the real reason of the war is the political interests of the states. This climate of conflict has caused an

Aiming to foster reflection on the role of the EU regarding the enforcement of the rule of law, this essay revisits, in a normative fashion, the Union's legal system with references to recent and established case law and literature. It understands the judicial enforcement of the rule of law as a synonym of effective judicial protection and analyses the pluralistic system of the Union as being overarched by loyalty. It then introduces three specific components of the rule of law related to its judicial enforcement. The first concerns its material aspect: the standards of protection of rights and principles. The contribution opines that the systemic analysis of the Union excludes conflicts of standards. The second component refers to judicial control. It is argued that the related structural obligations of the Member States are enforceable by individual claims grounded on a self-standing right. The last component is organic and relates to the judge. The contribution posits that the national judge is empowered by her European mandate to enforcing the rule of law. While the technique of exceptional circumstances as part of the mechanism of the European arrest warrant confirms this position, cases of constitutional conflicts suggest the procedural deficiency.