Pravni zapisi

THE RULE OF LAW, THE SEPARATION OF POWERS, AND BIG TECH

Maja Sahadzic — 2025-05-29

The growing influence of Big Tech, backed by technological advancement and platformization, poses significant challenges to traditional concepts of the rule of law and the separation of powers. By privately accumulating functions typically reserved for the state, Big Tech now assumes functions traditionally assigned to the state. In light of this, this paper explores the limitations imposed on the rule of law and the separation of powers. It first revisits the classical understanding of these constitutional principles and then assesses the contemporary challenges posed by Big Tech. The analysis then shifts to the rising private (technological) power of Big Tech as a fourth pillar in the separation of powers. Finally, the paper argues for cooperation and coordinated governance between the state and Big Tech, ultimately concluding with final insights on the adaptiveness of the traditional concepts of the rule of law and the separation of powers.

TOWARD A EUROPEAN TORT LAW OF DATA PROTECTION: THE CASE LAW OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND ITS IMPACT ON NATIONAL TORT LAWS

Lana Bubalo — 2025-05-29

The paper examines the provisions governing non-material damage resulting from violations of the right to personal data protection under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as their interpretation in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Particular attention is devoted to judgments in which the Court develops autonomous, yet insufficiently precise, legal concepts, thereby creating legal uncertainty and complicating the application of relevant provisions at the national level. Although the CJEU has entrusted national courts with the assessment of damages, the paper emphasizes that in practice it is impossible to fully separate the conditions for awarding damages from the process of determining the amount of compensation.

RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE BLOCKCHAIN ARBITRAL AWARDS UNDER THE NEW YORK CONVENTION

Stefan Jovanović — 2025-05-29

Blockchain technology is reshaping a wide range of sectors, from finance and law to art. The rise of blockchain platforms offering “blockchain arbitration” suggests a shift toward faster, cheaper and decentralized dispute resolution. A key advantage often highlighted is the potential for automatic enforcement of decisions using smart contracts. However, since this is only a possibility, many decisions will be enforced through traditional means. Given the inherently global nature of blockchain arbitration disputes, an important consideration is whether their decisions can be recognized and enforced under the New York Convention. This paper explores whether blockchain arbitration decisions qualify as awards enforceable under the New York Convention and whether their decision-making process meets the Convention’s enforcement criteria. The author recognizes that the procedural aspect of public policy may be undermined by the way decisions are rendered in blockchain arbitrations.

OPŠTI ZAKON O UNIVERZITETIMA IZ 1954. GODINE: PRVI POSLERATNI ZAKON O VISOKOM ŠKOLSTVU U JUGOSLAVIJI I NJEGOVI DUGOROČNI EFEKTI

Dejan Popović — 2025-05-29

Posle raskida sa SSSR, jugoslovenski komunisti su počeli da grade drukčiji model socijalizma, u kojem bi visoko obrazovanje dobilo određenu autonomiju, a oni sačuvali monopol vlasti. Od 1952. do 1954. godine vođena je široka rasprava u koju su, pored državnih funkcionera, bili uključeni i univerzitetski profesori i profesionalna udruženja. U njoj su pretresana pitanja nove organizacije univerziteta i fakulteta, uticaja države u upravljanju tim ustanovama, izbora nastavnika i dr. Godine 1954. Savezna narodna skupština donela je Opšti zakon o univerzitetima, koji je odmah postao primenjiv. Tim zakonom su univerziteti i fakulteti dobili status pravnih lica i pravo da donose statute. Njima su upravljali savet (u kojem su profesori i država /sa studentima/ imali po 50% glasova), rektor/dekan i univerzitetska/fakultetska uprava. U državama sukcesorima ex-Jugoslavije i danas se oseća uticaj ovog zakona, a u Srbiji, Hrvatskoj i Severnoj Makedoniji i dalje fakulteti imaju status pravnog lica.

REFORMS WITHOUT REFORMING: TRENDS IN LOCAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNANCE AND DECENTRALIZATION IN CROATIA

Vedran Đulabić — 2025-05-31

The paper presents, analyzes, and discusses changes in the Croatian local self-government system and assesses their drivers, whether these changes can be con- sidered real reforms, and why certain changes occur and others do not. The paper covers a 30-year time span of local self-government development – from the early 1990s, when Croatia introduced a modern local self-government, through the 2000s when Croatia transitioned to the system based on political decentralization, to recent reform activities. The paper shows that there have been several “real” reforms that have raised and addressed very important issues, while other “reforms” can mostly be described as partial changes that occur when there is significant political will for them or under strong external pressure. Political actors and their role of veto players, together with path dependency, remain crucial explanatory factors of local self-government development in the past three decades in Croatia.

THE BIOPOLITICS OF MENSTRUATION IN HUNGARY: THEN AND NOW

Judit Sándor — 2025-05-29

This article focuses on postwar Hungary, including the transition from state socialism to peripheral capitalism. This era is especially important as during the decades of cold war one of the main claims was that social and welfare rights – including the right to healthcare – were exemplary in state socialism and much more advanced than in the capitalisms of the West. This article argues, however, that even though social welfare rights were advanced in certain jurisdictions and fields, they did not eradicate patriarchal views. Neglecting women during their pe- riod also shows that protecting motherhood did not automatically increase women’s rights. While women’s welfare rights have been underdeveloped, there have been some significant achievements in the fields of maternal care and childcare.

PHILOSOPHY OF MENSTRUATION: THE BODY THAT IS NOT BODILESS

Adriana Zaharijević — 2025-05-29

The question this text raises is how do we think about the bodies that bleed, “we” being in particular those whose bodies bleed regularly? The question is philosophical in kind, as it tests our capacities to think about such bodies. Philosophy as a corpus has had little to say about menstruating bodies, which curiously also applies to feminist philosophy. Since these bodies do exist and we need to think of them in some way – not only for the sake of thinking, but also in order to apply legal measures in an equitable way – the text proposes the following: to see how bodies were framed in philosophical thought, departing from the notion of a bodiless body as the central paradigm in conceptualizing the philosophical subject, to make room for greater pluralism, and a fortiori, equality in thinking about human embodiment. The key claim is that it is bleeding that stands firmly in the way of conceptualizing bodies as bodiless.

MENSTRUATION AT WORK SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM – PERIOD!

Mila D Petrović — 2025-05-29

Even though menstruation is a normal part of female biology, it still represents a taboo, a source of stigma, prejudice and practices that create further rifts in already heavily divided society. Not only is such a situation unjust and offensive, but it also creates problems in the work environment. The mere fact that a woman is menstruating puts her at risk of being perceived as incompetent, creates potential hygienic and logistical issues, and, in certain cases, fairly aggravates the possibility of female employees performing at work. Such a situation calls for policies that can accommodate the needs of menstruating employees, as well as for their protection from any unwanted behavior that could weaponize an individual’s innate biological feature. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the position of menstruating employees at work, as well as possible policies that can be introduced by the employer in order to facilitate their position.

THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HUMAN HEALTH: DOES LEGISLATION IN SERBIA ADEQUATELY RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGES?

Sofija Nikolić Popadić — 2025-05-29

The effects of climate change are numerous: from extreme weather events with enormous amount of precipitation, to extreme droughts in parts of the planet where this was previously uncommon. They can significantly affect the physical and mental health of the human population. This paper will focus firstly on recognizing the increasingly intense consequences of climate change in Serbia and their impact on human health. After that, it will answer the question whether the threat of climate change to human health is recognized in the strategies and legal regulations in Serbia, and if so, whether legislation in Serbia adequately responds to those challenges. The research results show that the connection between the climate change and human health is not recognized in all relevant legislation. Recommendations for appropriate legislative changes are provided.

MISSING MENSTRUATORS: HOW ACTIVIST WORK HIGHLIGHTS A KNOWLEDGE GAP

Marina Sakač Hadžić — 2025-05-31

With the global and cultural shifts challenging the silence and taboo, menstruation is becoming increasingly present in the media. By looking the work of artists and activists, this paper highlights the development of knowledge about menstruation. In promoting menstruation and period poverty, activists and NGOs have contributed to changes in schools and universities in Serbia and the Western Balkans. Some of these institutions now provide free menstrual products. The paper explores the role of digital activists and civil society as drivers of change, focusing on producing and sharing knowledge about menstruating bodies. They fill gaps created by the neglect or lack of interest of public health institutions. This draws on legal reforms, civil society contributions, critical menstrual studies, digital ethnography, and content analysis.