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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Gutmann, Jerg; Metelska-Szaniawska, Katarzyna; Voigt, Stefan |
| Abstract: | Constitutional compliance varies significantly across countries and over time. One might, therefore, expect that constitutional change is systematically used to bring constitutional rules in line with constitutional practice. We investigate whether constitutional change indeed induces better compliance by the government with the constitution. Using an event study design to analyze constitutional changes in 171 countries between 1951 and 2020, we find that new constitutions lead to durable improvements in constitutional compliance in democracies. The effect of constitutional change in nondemocracies, however, is small and short-lived. |
| Keywords: | constitution making, constitutional change, constitutional compliance, de jure-de facto gap, event study |
| JEL: | D02 H11 K10 K38 K42 P14 P26 P48 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ilewps:90 |
| By: | Dalida Rittossa (University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law); Marissabell ?kori? (University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law) |
| Abstract: | In 2019, President von der Lezen presented the Political Guidelines for the Next European Commission and clearly emphasised, among other things, that the fight against gender-based violence must be a priority within the Union. The creation of preventive measures and measures to protect victims together with successful criminal justice responses to punish perpetrators is a path that must be pursued together with ensuring minimum standards with regard to the normative definition of certain forms of violence. The ideas expressed were reiterated in the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 and it was therefore rightly assumed that one of the driving forces behind the creation of Directive (EU) 2024/1385 would be to provide a binding instrument to harmonise the definition of violent crimes and minimum levels of punishment across the European legal area. However, the analysis has shown that the Directive does not constitute a comprehensive legal framework, in particular as regards the definition of sexual violence, as the normative consensus advocated in the discussions surrounding the proposal of the Directive has not been fully achieved. Chapter 2 does not contain any classic criminal offence against sexual freedom, such as rape, except for Article 7, para c) which defines ?cyberflashing? as a form of cyber harassment. The Directive explicitly defines cyberflashing as "the unsolicited sending, by means of ICT, of an image, video, or other similar material depicting genitals to a person, where such conduct is likely to cause serious psychological harm to that person."Since the under-regulation of sexual offenses is partly due to the adoption of the principle of minimum harmonization and the permission for states to prescribe other forms of violence, which are not mentioned as offenses in the Directive, in national criminal law, it is specifically examined whether cyberflashing corresponds to the criminal offense of sexual harassment under Article 156 of the Croatian Criminal Code. It will also be observed whether the recent amendments to this offense from 2024 have brought the adopted national normative definition closer to the European model. Based on the relevant municipal courts? case law over the last 12 years, the article examines whether any of the decided cases corresponds to sexual harassment on the Internet and clarifies the main threads of judicial reasoning. The findings can serve as a good guide on how national criminal law solutions can be reconciled with the European requirements of Directive (EU) 2024/1385 in a comparative context. |
| Keywords: | Directive (EU) 2024/1385, sexual harassment, cyberflashing, harmonization of criminal justice standards |
| JEL: | K14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:15516805 |
| By: | Naureda Llagami (Senior Legal Expert, former chairperson of the High Judicial Council) |
| Abstract: | This article considers digital technologies' transformation of court administration and judicial proceedings across European Union member states, concentrating on recent technological and legislative developments. Regulation (EU) 2023/2844 and Directive (EU) 2023/2843 are key to this shift as they require parties to identify electronically within cross-border civil, commercial, and criminal proceedings, to use videoconferencing, and to communicate securely. These actions rely on the e-CODEX system permitting secure electronic document exchange as they match EU plans for digital resilience plus interoperability. From fully operational e-justice platforms toward partial pandemic-accelerated solutions including Estonia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, and others, the study identifies varying levels of integration through a comparative analysis of selected member states. While digitalization makes things more efficient, transparent, as well as accessible for justice, infrastructure, legal interpretation, with procedural rules still create disparities that obstruct uniform implementation. The eIDAS Regulation runs into some difficulties in terms of harmonizing electronic identification. Digitally mediated proceedings also battle to admit electronic evidence with integrity and safeguard fundamental rights. The study does also consider the impact of COVID-19 upon accelerating remote hearings, and this in turn highlights both efficiency gains as well as concerns regarding procedural fairness. Best practices include the integrated digital case management, the secure authentication systems, and the user-oriented e-justice portals. Challenges such as IT systems, data incompatibility, also digital exclusion provide for a sharp difference. To ensure EU digital justice reforms are resilient inclusive as well as respectful of the right to a fair trial while advancing interoperability plus access to justice across the internal market, the analysis concludes sustained investment coordinated training of legal professionals also reinforced regulatory oversight are important. |
| Keywords: | Digitalization of justice, e-CODEX, eIDAS regulation, Cross-border judicial cooperation, Electronic evidence |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:15516957 |
| By: | Marissabell ?kori? (University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law); Dalida Rittossa (University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law) |
| Abstract: | Combating violence against women and domestic violence is one of the key European human rights issues. Despite significant progress in legislation and policy, this problem is still widespread and requires constant adaptation and improvement of legal and social protection mechanisms.In Croatia, domestic violence is a serious social issue and femicide, as its most extreme form, has increased notably. With the aim of combating violence against women and domestic violence more effectively, the Republic of Croatia introduced significant amendments to its criminal legislation in April 2024. The Act on Amendments to the Criminal Code includes among other new provisions, the new criminal offense of femicide, which refers to the aggravated murder of a female person and the definition of gender-based violence. The prescribed penalty for femicide is a prison sentence of at least ten years or a long-term prison sentence. Gender-based violence is considered an aggravating circumstance, except in cases where the Criminal Code already explicitly prescribes a more severe penalty and takes gender-based violence into account as a qualifying circumstance. In addition, offenses of sexual harassment, domestic violence, and stalking are defined more precisely along the penalties for sex offenders are higher. These legislative amendments are based on important international and European documents that have been ratified by Croatia. Among them, the Istanbul Convention stands out as the first legally binding international instrument that provides a comprehensive framework for combating violence against women. Furthermore, Croatia has adopted relevant EU documents, including the Directive on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, which was passed in May 2024. This Directive establishes minimum standards for the criminalisation of specific forms of violence against women and domestic violence, while emphasizing the importance of providing specialized support to victims and ensuring access to justice.Despite legislative reforms aligned with international standards for the protection of victims of gender-based and domestic violence, experts point to persistent shortcomings in prevention, weak coordination between relevant service providers, and inconsistent enforcement of legal provisions. These challenges underscore the need for continuous training of all professionals working with victims of gender-based violence, increased support for victims and greater public awareness to ensure more effective protection and prevention of future violence. Ultimately, the fight against violence against women and domestic violence is not just a legal issue, but a question strongly related to social responsibility and collective action involving all institutions and citizens. |
| Keywords: | gender-based violence, domestic violence, femicide, Croatian Criminal Code |
| JEL: | K14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:15516806 |
| By: | Prashant Narang (TrustBridge Rule of Law Foundation); Vishnu Suresh (TrustBridge Rule of Law Foundation) |
| Abstract: | Although Parliament rewrote Section 31A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act in 2015 to make “loser-pays†the norm, the Bombay High Court almost never shifts costs. To understand why, this study assembled a complete corpus of the Court’s 102 arbitration related orders issued in 2023–24 under Sections 11 (appointment) and 34 (set-aside) and read each decision against the statute’s cost factors. Twenty-two confidential interviews with judges, arbitrators and counsel supplemented the doctrinal review. Costs were imposed in just four matters, and even those awards were framed as exceptional sanctions for egregious delay or illegality rather than routine reimbursement. Most judgments cited no reason beyond a formulaic “no order as to costs, †despite statutory findings of misconduct in many of them. Interviewees traced this pattern to a mix of factors, including appellate caution, an ingrained token-cost courtroom culture, the absence of clear benchmarks for quantifying real-world expenditure and awareness that generous cost orders may jeopardise post-retirement arbitration opportunities. By providing the first mixed-methods baseline for any Indian High Court, the article identifies targeted reforms such as presumptive cost scales, transparent disclosure of expense vouchers and brief, mandatory cost-reasons. These reforms are likely to align everyday practice with Parliament’s indemnificatory intent and reduce the economic drag of avoidable litigation. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bjd:wpaper:15 |
| By: | Gilles Paché (CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - UTLN - Université de Toulon) |
| Abstract: | For four decades, global supply chains have occupied a central position in academic and political debates, driven by the growing imperative to reconcile economic performance with corporate social responsibility. Within this context, soft law has emerged as the favored mechanism for transnational regulation, functioning both as a catalyst for normative innovation and as a strategic means to circumvent more stringent constraints on flow management. A comparative analysis of France and the United States reveals two distinct paradigms: a formalized, legalistic, and preventive French framework centered on the duty of vigilance-a uniquely French statutory obligation-and a more coercive U.S. framework that leverages customs sanctions alongside geopolitical objectives, albeit applied selectively. The article's originality stems from its critical integration of legal and management perspectives, transcending the simplistic dichotomy between restrictive regulation and self-regulation. Employing comparative social science methodologies, it opens significant research avenues into the prerequisites for inclusive transnational governance, emphasizing the mobilization of diverse stakeholders and hybrid control mechanisms to transform the broader principle of duty of care into an instrument of enhanced logistical justice. |
| Keywords: | Comparative analysis, Corporate accountability, Duty of care (vigilance), France, Global supply chains, Governance, Logistical justice, Soft law, Transnational regulation, United States |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05348346 |
| By: | Mariam El Harras; My Abdelouhab Salahddine |
| Abstract: | Regulatory technology (RegTech) is transforming financial compliance by integrating advanced information technologies to strengthen anti money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML CFT) frameworks. Recent literature suggests that such technologies represent more than just an efficiency tool; they mark a paradigm shift in regulation and the evolution of financial oversight (Kurum, 2023). This paper aims to provide a narrative review of recent RegTech applications in financial crime prevention, with a focus on key compliance domains. A structured literature review was conducted to examine publications between 2020 and 2024 with a thematic synthesis of findings related to customer due diligence (CDD) and know your customer (KYC), transaction monitoring, regulatory reporting and compliance automation, information sharing and cross border cooperation, as well as cost efficiency. Findings reveal that RegTech solutions give financial institutions more responsibility for detecting and managing financial crime risks, making them more active players in compliance processes traditionally overseen by regulators. The combined use of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and big data also generates synergistic effects that improve compliance outcomes beyond what these technologies achieve individually. This demonstrates the strategic relevance of integrated RegTech approaches. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2511.15764 |
| By: | Pascal Nieder; Sven Arne Simon |
| Abstract: | Compliance with complex regulatory requirements can be challenging. We study why and how complexity affects non-compliance in terms of incorrect reporting. Our novelexperimental design isolates two distinct complexity effects: an increase in honest mistakes and a substantial shift toward self-serving dishonesty. We identify two mechanisms for this dishonesty shift. First, individuals with social image concerns systematically take advantage of plausible deniability. Second, we document an unexplored form of dishonesty: besides conscious lies, individuals use fraudulent shortcuts in response to complex cheating opportunities. |
| Keywords: | Dishonest behavior, Complexity, Lying, Non-Compliance, Experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D83 D91 H26 K42 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpi:wpaper:tax-mpg-rps-2024-17 |
| By: | Fida Muhammad Khan (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics); Zainab Fatima (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics) |
| Abstract: | The principle that laws should apply equally to all, regardless of financial status, social standing, religion, race, or caste, is widely accepted (Clear, 2009). However, the question remains whether the formulation, design, and implementation of laws should account for markers of exclusion and marginalization, such as gender (Bloom et al., 2003). The literature on Gendered Pathways Theory (GPT) addresses this issue, arguing that while criminal acts may be gender-neutral, the pathways leading to these acts are distinctly gendered (Daly, 1992). Ignoring the gendered nature of these pathways-encompassing the motivations, commission, and consequences of crime-can lead to ineffective policies and flawed conclusions in criminological research (Reisig et al., 2006). How are Pathways to Crime, Gendered? Marginalization and exclusion are rarely the result of a single factor; rather, they stem from multiple intersecting variables, which include religion, race, their status socially, and gender (Crenshaw, 1989). Women experience these factors differently from men due to their gendered identity, which places them at a structural disadvantage from birth (Chesney-Lind and Pasko, 2013). Societal norms impose distinct expectations and restrictions on women, rooted in the normative foundations of the society in which they live (Belknap, 2007). These norms are transmitted through the family, the primary social unit, which enforces compliance to avoid societal reproach (Morash and Schram, 2002). Consequently, women's lived experiences-whether in familial, social, or public settings-differ fundamentally from those of men, shaping their interactions in spaces such as classrooms, ceremonies, or public events (Richie, 1996). The effects of gender are compounded by other markers of marginalization, such as economic status, social standing, educational attainment, and ethnic background (Collins, 2000). As Crenshaw's (1989) concept of intersectionality suggests, these overlapping factors amplify marginalization. For instance, post-disaster rehabilitation literature indicates that marginalized groups-such as women, children, and the disabled-face more severe consequences following a calamity due to their pre-existing socioeconomic or political disadvantages (Enarson, 2000). This intersectional lens highlights why the pathways towards committing a crime could be different fundamentally for women, from those of men, even when committing similar offenses (Broidy and Agnew, 1997). Women's gendered identity, assigned at birth, shapes their societal roles and expectations (Chesney-Lind, 2006). For example, cultural norms may dictate that a wife should not challenge her husband, yet when a woman asserts her opinion, she may face persistent abuse-methodical and enduring, as noted in GPT literature (Richie, 2012). This abuse can push women toward extreme actions, including violent crimes (DeHart, 2008). Similarly, poverty affects women differently due to intersecting factors such as gender, low socioeconomic status, or caste (Bloom et al., 2004). A woman from a marginalized background may struggle to secure a livelihood, increasing her vulnerability to criminal pathways (Owen and Bloom, 1995). |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:kbrief:2025:133 |