Since 2001, the Institute has been organising annually a scientific legal conference "The Civil Law Days", which has evolved into the the central meeting of Slovenian lawyers working in the field of private law in academic circles, in judiciary and in business. Each conference is focused on a set of selected topical issues of civil and commercial law, defined narrowly so as to enable indepth discussion combining legal theory and practice. This year's symposium was dedicated to the topics of effective enforcement of claims against foreign debtors under the reformed Brussels I Regulation, the limitation of claims, unfair competition in relation to consumer protection, common property, and the position of minority shareholders in a squeeze-out procedures.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
Since 2003, the Institute for Comparative Law has been organising, in cooperation with the Government Office for Legislation and the Faculty of Law, Unversity of Ljubljana, the annual conference "Nomotechnical Days", held each May at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. The main purpose of the conference is to discuss the topical issues of nomotechnics i. e. the art and principles of the formation of laws and other legal regulations from the methodological, structural, constitutional and linguistic aspects, and to establish a wide professional consensuson the development of clear principles of Slovenian nomotechnics.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin wall the process of building the rule of law in post-Communist Europe is facing serious challenges. The analysis of this period clearly shows that organizing free and democratic elections is easier than creating constitutional democracy based on the rule of law. Rule-of-law institutions are often weak or underdeveloped, and hence fail to fulfill their essential function, i.e. to limit the abuse of uncontrolled state power. The current rule of law crisis in the region originates from certain structural features of the transition in Central and Eastern Europe. The single most important factor contributing to the current democratic setback is a failure of institutionalization of the rule of law and effective state institutions, which, together with democratic accountability, form modern liberal democracy. The reformers in the region too often neglected the importance of the ‘homegrown development’ and the need to adapt Western models to local conditions and needs. Many rule of law institutions created during the last 25 years need further reforms. It is time for real democratic deliberation and experimentation, which could usher in much needed institutional reforms in the region. In order to improve the rule-of-law institutions, we must not start from some idealized ‘best model’, but from the existing context in which these institutions function. New rule of law institutions in CEE may in the end resemble their Western models. But what is more important is that they actually work well for CEE, even if they look different than their Western counterparts.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 14667345At the closing conference, organised within the EU project "Dimensions of evidence in European civil procedure", the most important topics in the field of cross-border evidence were addressed by recognised European experts in this field. Special attention was paid to information technology and electronic evidence, where the participants had the opportunity to address the various issues associated with e-documents from the practical point of view. Interactive scientific conference was devoted to the wider interested public.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
The EU »economic constitution« systematically biases EU policy making in a neo-liberal direction. Historically speaking, this was not the intent of the EU founding fathers. The original constitutional settlement of embedded liberalism was significantly redefined in the next major revisions of the Rome Treaty. The neo-liberal foundations of the single market and the EMU have imposed real and significant institutional constraints for progressive policy making. However, the role of the European Left was crucial in this alteration of the EU constitutional order. Despite the strong neoliberal consensus among the key political actors of that time, such a change would have not be possible without the Left' retreat towards »centre-leftism«, particularly in France. Furthermore, while constrains of the EU economic constitution are significant, we should avoid the »naturalization« of the EU project. The European Left, while in power, failed to leave its distinct imprint on the EU economic constitution. The Left policy agenda remained firmly embedded in the logic of the nation state. The euro crisis pushed these developments even further and, for the first time in the EU history, explicitly challenged the constitutional balance of the EU legal order. The new Austerity Union, a project in the making, profoundly altered this constitutional balance.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 14720849