A ‘Paradigm Shift’ in the Criminal Law System – The Evolution of the Mediation in Criminal Matters in Hungary, by Virtue of the EU Expectations
The idea of restorative justice has been much talked about in the last decades. Distinguishing between a retributive and a restorative model, it has sometimes been argued that the idea of restorative justice stands for a ‘paradigm shift’ in the criminal law system. Mediation has become an integral part of many European criminal justice systems: although there were many unsolved problems at the beginning. As it was pointed out in the Handbook of Criminology, these problems covered a wide variety of details, ranging from the unclear role of reparation and compensation within the context of the criminal justice system to the consequences of the idea of restorative justice for the mass of ‘victimless’ crimes. However, the lack of a conclusive concept of restorative justice could have been left unnoticed, as a considerable progress of the idea of restorative justice could be observed in many European legislations during the last decades. Read more… (Petra Ágnes Kanyuk)
To a certain degree, owing to informational asymmetry, a difference in negotiating power and a relative lack of transparency, and due to the ever-present risk of falling victim to unfair commercial practices, all consumers can be considered vulnerable or disadvantaged when it comes to business-to-consumer transactions. This is especially the case in those consumer markets that involve particularly complex transactions, such as the financial products and services market. In the light of these issues, this article focuses on the European Union’s concept of the ‘average consumer’ and its interpretation by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), particularly in cases concerning problematic markets. 
Hungary became part of the European Union (EU) during the 2004 ’big bang’ enlargement together with nine other, predominantly Central and Eastern European countries. The accession of new Member States brought crucial legal, economic, and social changes in the acceding countries, including Hungary. EU accession triggered remarkable interactions between EU law and the domestic law of the acceding countries. 
This article sets out to present the competent forums for setting aside an arbitral award within the legislation of Kosovo and in accordance with the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, New York 1958 and United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Commercial Arbitration 1985 with amendments as adopted in 2006. The article aims to show the importance of the systematic interpretation of Law No. 02/L-75 on Arbitration of the Republic of Kosovo, the Convention and the Model Law to find the final meaning of provisions that can serve as grounds to establish jurisdiction for setting aside an arbitral award, whether these provisions are the grounds of jurisdiction for setting aside a national or foreign arbitral award. 
Over the past decade the use of drones, robots, and other remotely controlled weaponry has surged in the area of modern warfare, raising questions on the challenges these new technologies bring to human rights and the application of international law as a whole. States and non-governmental organizations have done very little to change existing laws, and remain unmoved at large by the challenges this new technology brings, leaving lawyers, human rights activists and organizations stuck with old laws that no longer apply to new wars. This article looks at some of the challenges contemporary wars bring to international law, and explores the debates centered on the legality surrounding the use of drones by arguing that an update in existing laws is necessary. 
In a recently published opinion, Advocate General Tanchev of the ECJ expressed concerns regarding the appointment of judges to the newly established Disciplinary Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court. According to the opinion, the Disciplinary Chamber does not satisfy the requirements of judicial independence under EU law due to national legislative authorities playing a key role in the election of the 15 judicial members of the National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ), the body playing a primary role in the appointment of judges to the Disciplinary Chamber. 
One of the most difficult aspects of divorce is making arrangements for the children; a hard decision that is made infinitely more difficult if the parents are citizens of different countries. With the rising number of international families, now estimated at 16 million, cross-border disputes on family matters have increased in the EU. There are about 140,000 international divorces per year in the EU and around 1,800 cases of parental child abduction within the EU every year. In a recent case, the European Court of Human Rights has held that there had been a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerned the interpretation of „grave risk” under international law in a child custody dispute. 
This article argues that the extension of the additional protection against unfair commercial practices – provided only to a strictly limited group of consumers in other areas of consumer protection – to all consumers in the field of financial consumer protection could potentially be justified. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of promoting financial literacy, which would require the development of up-to-date financial education and awareness programmes: through the use of its education and training policy instruments, the European Union could promote the availability of these programmes across all member states. 
In what seems like the final resolution of the dispute between the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the government about the future of the Academy’s research network, the government has announced its plans to unilaterally move all the research units in question under a new public institution with a 13-member governing board comprised of six government and six academy delegates and a chairman appointed by the Prime Minister. 
This blog post endeavors to briefly explore some specific approaches within the European system of human rights protection that aim to promote the access of the members of certain vulnerable groups to education and training. This human rights framework appears to react differently to specific forms of vulnerability: access to education as an important tool in countering social exclusion appears primarily in the context of people with disabilities and those belonging to national and ethnic minorities. With regard to other vulnerable groups, for instance, asylum seekers or socially vulnerable youth, legal guarantees in the field of education are significantly more scarce, and in the case of certain groups (such as irregular immigrants) they are completely absent.