This article analyses the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and Others, which addressed the question of whether States can be held accountable under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) for extraterritorial climate-related harm caused by their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Court rejected the applicants’ call to expand jurisdiction beyond Portugal, reaffirming a traditional, control-based interpretation of Article 1 that ties jurisdiction to effective authority over individuals or territory. Through a close reading of the Court’s reasoning and the applicants’ arguments, the article highlights the structural limitations of the ECtHR’s current jurisdictional framework when applied to the transboundary and systemic nature of climate change. It argues that while the Court’s cautious approach preserves doctrinal consistency, it risks rendering the Convention ineffective in addressing one of the most pressing human rights challenges of our time. The article proposes a narrowly scoped recalibration of jurisdiction that remains within the Convention’s legal framework while allowing for meaningful accountability in exceptional climate harm cases.
The rapid increase in digitalization and the widespread sharing of data has made the protection of personal data an important issue. This study aims to analyse the current practices regarding the protection of personal data in Türkiye in a comparative manner with the regulations adopted at international and European level. The study evaluates the effectiveness of the Law KVKK in Türkiye and offers suggestions on how this law can be aligned with international standards such as the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Based on important regulations such as the GDPR and the OECD's Data Protection Principles, the study aims to analyse the legal and policy instruments in Türkiye in depth. The similarities and differences between the GDPR and the LPPD are emphasized, especially on issues such as data transfer abroad, data processing processes and protection of sensitive data. The study analyses the process of aligning Türkiye's personal data protection regulations with EU standards and develops forward looking policy recommendations in terms of data security in the digital age.
The Czech Civil Code of 2012 (Act no. 89/2012 Coll.) reintroduced extraordinary wills, which had been absent since 1950, into Czech law. This article provides a basic overview of the regulation of extraordinary wills in Czech law. It conducts a comparison both in the historical-legal context within the development of Czech law since the early 20th century and compares the regulation with the legal frameworks of countries that inspired the Czech Civil Code. Through this comparison, it highlights the differences and specifics of the current Czech regulation, as well as its potential weaknesses or strengths. The text reflects, not only the legal regulation, but also the existing case law, and points out the limits of the applicability of the Czech regulation of extraordinary wills.
The primary quandary inherent in the formulation of an inheritance policy pertains to selecting between two conflicting objectives: the preservation of familial cohesion amongst the deceased's dependants, and the adherence to the stipulated wishes of the deceased, as documented in their will. The selection is determined by legal statutes and case law. Frequently, the recognition of the testator's will as a pivotal factor in determining the disposition of their property can result in what might be perceived as an "injustice" towards members of their family, and vice versa. Furthermore, the concept of a family "deserving" protection is subject to variation. The objective of this article is to observe ways of resolving the dilemma of "how much freedom, how much solidarity" in the U.S. model law and in the inheritance law of selected states in the United States. The author has selected the legal systems of Louisiana and California, which are characterized by fundamentally divergent legal traditions. The selection of the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) is predicated on the fact that it has been implemented, to varying degrees, in numerous states. Furthermore, the act represents an endeavour to identify the "golden mean" – that is, to reconcile differing legal traditions, to address social expectations, and to transform the role of the family.
The constitutional identity of a state reflects the set of values by which a state identifies and distinguishes itself from other states. The concrete elements of constitutional identity are essentially derived from constitutions, but constitutional justice also plays a salient role, since the case law of each national constitutional court is intended to determine the framework of the constitutional identity of the given state. This contribution aims to compare the relevant case law of the constitutional courts of Romania and Hungary. One can observe that both constitutional courts give paramount importance to the protection of constitutional identity against the primacy of EU law; however, differences can also be identified between the elements of the Romanian and Hungarian constitutional identity. In what follows, after presenting some of the particularities of the concept of constitutional identity, the contribution will reflect on all these issues.
