WHY ARE PAIN AND SUFFERING TORT DAMAGES SO EXCESSIVE AND WHAT IS THE JUSTIFICATION FOR THE PUNITIVE DAMAGES IN THE U.S. LEGAL SYSTEM?

by Mariana Barua

In this paper I will analyze the pain and suffering damages and the punitive damages, and will try to explain the reasons of their excessiveness in the common law system. I will also describe the theories developed and in some cases implemented for reducing them. Finally, I will compare the civil and common law systems and discuss which system works better.

Georgia Continues to Take a Beating at the ECHR

an interview of Irakli Kandashvili

On October 17th Georgia lost two more cases in European Court of Human Rights. This brought the total number of court cases with verdicts not in Georgia’s favor to nine.

Lawyer Irakli Kandashvili from the law firm of Andronikashvili, Sachsen-Altenburg, Baramidze & Partners, says that in 2006, the number of cases against Georgia in the Strasbourg court has increased from five up to nine and considers it as a huge problem for rule of law in Georgia. “It is time to build a real rule of law in Georgia when all citizens get justice and fair trial within national courts and not in Europe,” says Kandashvili.

Legal Notebook: Tenth Case lost in Strasbourg

an interview of Irakli Kandashvili

As our readers may remember at the beginning of December we published an interview with Irakli Kandashvili, a lawyer from Andronikashvili, Sachsen-Altenburg, Baramidze and Partners, where he informed readers that Georgia had lost two more cases in the European Court of Human Rights.

The Role of International Law

an interview of Irakli Kandashvili

The role and function of international law are of increasing interest in Georgia. As Georgia looks toward fuller integration with the international community, people are starting to think about what exactly is included in Georgian legislation and what role international law plays in it.

It is often said that Georgia is not fulfilling the obligations of international treaties and conventions. The logical question arises: What international conventions apply and why is Georgia bound and obliged to obey?

Factors Global Investors have to face in Latin America – Some highlights

by Héctor Ferreira

Latin America has been, since the origin of the countries which constitute it nowadays, a place open to foreign people and foreign investments.

Historically, immigrants brought to this region, not only their work and the dream of a new life in these territories, but also knowledge, techniques and commercial ideas that contributed to its development. The families of these foreign people are currently an important part of the inhabitants of our countries.

THE ARGENTINE CONTRACTUAL BREACH IN THE UTILITY SECTOR.
After 5 years, is there any way out?

by Gabriel Wilkinson

The purpose of this presentation is to submit to you a case – the Argentine Case – with all the facts, to answer the above and further questions.

What has the administration of Argentina performed during these last 5 years in connection with the general breach of contracts in the country.

This presentation is not a claim to the government although it will show you that Argentina has neglected a cure to its non fulfillment.

TRADEMARKS. Dilution: Concept. Evolution of Argentine case law. SUTTER case (2005).

by Manuel Alonso

The essential function of trademarks is to identify goods and services in the market, coming from different sources, and to avoid confusion in the consumers about the origin of the goods and services identified with them.

Most trademark conflicts are solved by comparing the marks involved under the traditional doctrine of the likelihood of confusion, which is applied in the context of identical or similar trademarks used on competitive goods and services.

The essential guideline and limit is that whatever identifies as to source is entitled to protection against a likelihood of confusion, but only to the extent it identifies and only to the extent to which confusion is likely to occur.

How the Uruguayan Insolvency and Bankruptcy system reacted to the 2002 Economic Crisis.

by Héctor Ferreira

In 2002 Uruguay suffered one of the most important economic crises of its history.

Nevertheless, it is also true that in other periods of its history, Uruguay had other economic, social and financial problems which shook the bases of its economy.

One example was the well remembered “Quiebre de la Tablita” in 1982, situation which occurred when the Uruguayan Government established an artificial equivalence (without considering what happened in the Capital Market) between the “Pesos Uruguayos” and the American Dollars. In 1982 this equivalence was broken for the inevitable weight of the international market.

Developing a culture of arbitration in Brazil.

by Giovanni Ettore Nanni

The Brazilian Arbitration Act (“Arbitration Act”), enacted a little over eight years ago, provided legal certainty for the development of arbitration as a viable means of dispute resolution in Brazil.

Among other innovations, the Arbitration Act made contractual arbitration clauses binding, enabling their specific performance. It also gave domestic arbitration awards the same effects of a court judgment, by removing the need to have them ratified by a judge before being enforced.

The challenges of Europeanization.
(on the example of Poland - the New Member State of the EU).

by Katarzyna Kuszewska

“I hope the Polish people, for centuries a true European people, by cultivating its values, will find its rightful place in the structures of the European Community.
Not only will Poland lose nothing of its identity, but - through its own tradition - will enrich this continent and the whole world"
Pope Jean Paul II

The process of Europeanization enjoys increasing popularity within the study of European integration. In spite of a large conceptual hesitation regarding the question what it actually is, the literature speaks of Europeanization when something in the domestic political system is affected by something “European”.

OPEC Policies and the Economic Development of Member States the Saudi Arabian Experience and what is needed in the 21st century

by Farhan Al-Farhan

Oil is the top ranking commodity of our modern world. Some would say that the discovery of vast reserves of oil in the Middle East is one of the great ironies of history because, since the 1960s, oil has played a major role in the international economy.

Continue...

THE NEW INSURANCE LAW IN ALBANIA, COMPLIANCE WITH EU STANDARDS

by Genci Krasniqi LL.M

Entering into market economy, Albania’s economy has undergone tremendous changes in general and financial sector in particular. These changes have as well affected the insurance sector that is the most vital part of the financial sector.

Continue...

Community Patents: A little closer

by Alfonso Areitio

Certainly, the patents are one of the most important kinds of the so-called industrial property rights. As is well known, the entity or individual holder of the patent is entitled to exploit the patented invention - both industrially and commercially - in an exclusive manner (positive content of the right) as well as to exclude the direct or indirect exploitation of the same by third parties and the manufacturing, bringing onto the market, import, sale or supply of the patented objects or procedures (negative content of the right). Leaving aside acts carried out in the private sphere and for non commercial purposes (i.e. experimental activities), third parties can only exploit the patented invention with the consent of the patent holder, consent that may derive from different sources: voluntary or obligatory licences, exclusive or not, authorizations, assignments, etc.

Continue...

The Impact of the UNCITRAL Model Law on international legal systems

Saudi Arabia information technology development from a legal aspect

by Farhan AL- Farhan

Traders and individuals are becoming more and more reliant on information technology to smooth the progress of international business transactions and many spectators believe that full-fledged electronic commerce is nearing a reality. Commonly, the business community uses a system known as electronic data interchange (EDI), because EDI offers advantages such as security (closed network), lower costs and quick and efficient access?, It is thought that any international industry would benefit greatly from its adoption, particularly in the areas of bills of lading. But EDI’s development has not been as quick as initially expected due to numerous technical and legal obstacles standing in its way such as the law's insistence on paper-based documentation.

Continue...

THE PROCEDURAL LAW APPLICABLE TO ARBITRATION

THE SEAT THEORY & THE DELOCALISATION THEORY

by Farhan AL- Farhan

Economic globalization has fuelled explosive growth and increased demand for international arbitration. Increasingly, nations compete with each other for selection as the forum for international arbitration. This competition is reflected, in part, in the development of national arbitration laws which are often a significant determinant of a nation's ranking among the leading world arbitration centres. The main reason for the conflicts of law or the use of different theories is the autonomy of the contracting parties and the mechanisms they agree to use to control the international contract especially in relation to development contracts. These contracts are designed and controlled by new methods and traditions illustrating the reasons why it has been used in this way, away from the local jurisdiction and national courts.

Continue...

Uganda Needs a Patent Regime That Is Pro Health
by Lydia Mugambe

As the global HIV/AIDS epidemic has turned into a major crisis and as the death toll mounts, one area of human rights- the right to health - has become fiercely contested. In particular the degree to which patents on medicines impede what the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has described as the "human right" of access to essential medicines is receiving close scrutiny.

Continue...

The Application of "Freedom of Contract" and Applicable Law Clauses Under Indonesian Law in International Contracts
by Mutia Rivayanthi and Christian Teo

Indonesia is a civil law jurisdiction in which the basic commercial law is found in the Civil and Commercial Codes initially promulgated during the Dutch colonial era. The concept of free will of the parties under Indonesian law is commonly referred to as the principle of "freedom of contract."

Continue...

Arbitration: An Effective Way Of International Dispute Resolution
by Anna Kalisz

The risk of conflict is impossible to avoid in both domestic and foreign business transactions. It is greater especially in the second category, where the parties differ in legal cultures, provisions and procedures, court systems, languages, cultural backgrounds or economic views, not mentioning any unforeseeable change in circumstances which can affect business dealings. Those factors cannot only have substantial effects upon the execution of the contract, but also bring so-called "dispute resolution risk" - a possibility of unsatisfactory decision made by foreign court according to foreign law.

Argentina's monetary policy calls for a change
by Guillermo Samuel SALAS

The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) acts in compliance with applicable statutory law and other detailed regulations, being appointed as the highest monetary and banking authority. Until the recently enacted National Congress Law 25.561 identified as "public emergency and currency exchange reform," the monetary-financial system was ruled by an independent BCRA and the "convertibility plan," an unorthodox currency board.