Journal of Contemporary Law

Local Tourist Systems in Spain

Clara Mariconda — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0400

The enormous potential of tourism as the economic sector in this millennium and, on the other
hand, the onset of the international competition that accompanies the globalization of tourism
and its forms of product segmentation, mean that the EU grants tourism an important role in the
realization of that all-European economic and social model drawn to Lisbon. This clearly shows
that global competition is increasingly playing on the ability to offer a single service in its
complexity. In the panorama of the different forms of state, Spain is today a singular case.

Iura novit arbiter in International Disputes: How to Prevent Unforeceable Legal Findings

Edoardo Gandini — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0400

If ever there was a globalized world, we are experiencing it! In this fervently interconnected and
accelerated world, the main purpose of companies and businessmen is to continue their business.
In such a context, ruled by the “business as usual”, arbitration increasingly appears to be a
certainly less traumatic way of resolving a dispute and then an ideal comfort neutral room for
players from different countries and with distant backgrounds.
However, its attractive nature of the private process must be combined with the jurisdictional
functions that the arbitrators have to accomplish anyhow.
The balance between these two factors (namely, the substantially private nature of the arbitral
process and the jurisdictional role of the arbitrators) will lead to the result, positive or negative, of
this choice made by the parties.
For these reasons, they should have all the skills to build, with the precious support of their
lawyers, a valuable product.
This short article aims at highlighting the role of the principle “iura novit curia” in the modern
international arbitration, since the election of the applicable law, as well as its ascertainment, are
two of the most challenging tasks for the arbitrators to deliver a satisfactory service.

Mandatory Automatic Exchange of Information in the Field of Taxation in Relation to Reportable Cross-Border Arrangements. Analysis of the EU Directive 6804/18

Fabio Zambardino — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0400

The necessity for a mandatory disclosure obligation for intermediaries who project cross-border
schemes for their clients, that involve routing assets to or through offshore entities, is very felt at
international level, especially in consequence of the recent scandals that highlighted phenomena
of tax evasion/elusion - in particular, “Panama Papers” and “Paradise Papers”. These complex
cross-border schemes facilitate tax evasion, tax fraud and money laundering, because each tax
jurisdiction evaluates a part of the system within its borders.
Considering this scenario, the EU Directive 6804/18 was introduced to provide a set of rules
related to the counter of tax avoidance/evasion phenomena and increasing levels of transparency
with regard to the exchange of information between the authorities of the Member States within
the Union. From the moment of its enforcement, the Directive obliges intermediaries, proposing
and commercializing transnational financial schemes to their clients, with the purpose to
facilitate tax avoidance, to report the establishment of such mechanisms to the tax authorities of
the Member State to which they belong. In turn, the authorities of the aforementioned EU
Member States will be compelled, as stated from the Directive, to exchange this information with
each other authorities, in order to increase control over the activities of consultants and tax
planners, regardless of the imminent possibility of a real risk.

Legal Responses to the Rise of the On-Demand Economy in Georgia and the United States

Richard Bales, Ana Mikhelidze — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0400

Are gig-economy workers “employees” or “independent contractors” for purposes of wage, hour,
employee-benefit, and labor laws? In both Georgia and the U.S. gig-economy work is significant
and rapidly expanding, though precise statistics in both countries do not exist. Similarly, in both
countries, companies providing gig-economy work label their workers as “independent
contractors”, though in many respects the companies’ control over the ways the workers do their
work more closely resembles traditional employment status. In both countries, the law has not
yet caught up to the changing nature of gig-economy work.
After discussing the prevalence and nature of gig-economy work in both Georgia and the U.S.,
this article examines the [thus far inadequate] response to this new type of work. It then reflects
on broader questions such as how the law should systematically attempt to resolve issues
regarding the status of gig-economy workers. For example, should it respond by attempting to
clarify the way that workers are classified and impose existing legal rules on these new-economy
workers? Should it reject classification altogether and instead either expand certain employment
protections to all workers regardless of classification, or divorce such protections from workplace
status entirely? How can countries coordinate their respective labor laws to avoid a “race to the
bottom” of labour standards by multinational employers?

Collective Bargaining

Tamar Shudra — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0400

The Association Agreement concluded in 2014 by and between the European Union and the
European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, on the one part, and Georgia on
the other part, obliges Georgian Government to respect, promote and realize in its law and
practice the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. The research aims at
emphasizing the main aspects promoting the effective recognition of the right to collective
bargaining.
The research highlights the necessity of establishing the notion of “extension” of a collective
agreement and stating the mandatory and voluntary issues of collective bargaining on the
statutory level, as an effective means for protecting employees’ interests. Additionally, the
research considers the mechanism of collective bargaining as a token of the commonwealth and
the economic stability of the country and evaluates its impact on the prevention and settlement of
collective disputes. Consequently, it is aimed at detecting the shortcomings of the present
Georgian law and to propose possible ways of improvement

Comparative Analysis of Two Basic Principles of International Law - Territorial Integrity of State and Selfdetermination of Nations on Example of Kosovo and Abkhazia

Nika Chitadze, Ketevan Jebisashvili — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0400

The main goal of the research is to analyze in details and present the two basic principles of international
law - the right to self-determination of nations and territorial integrity of the state on the example of the
Kosovo and Abkhazia conflicts. In particular, a significant part of the paper is devoted to the legal
assessment of the Kosovo and Abkhazian conflicts and revealing the main differences that are linked to
the legal aspects of Kosovo conflict, on the one hand, and the conflict in Abkhazia, on the other hand.
The article focuses on a detailed analysis of facts why the West, particularly North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) 3 involvement in the Kosovo conflict and recognition of Kosovo's independence by
the majority of the international community is partly legitimate and, on the other hand, from the
international legal and political viewpoints, Russia's involvement in the Abkhazian conflict and the
recognition of the so-called "independence" of Abkhazia has no legal basis at all. The final part of the
work discusses what the international community should do in the future regarding the protection of the
principles of international law.

Mistake, Sales, Consumer Law

Vakhtang Zaalishvili1, Aleksandre Giorgidze2 — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0400

R.B. has addressed to currency exchange office owned by “ -a” LLC, located in Tbilisi to exchange
500 US dollars where the dollar was purchased “at first sight with the highest”4 exchange rate. He
handed 500 USD to a woman, that worked at the currency exchange office who, in turn, gave him
1020 GEL. R.B.'s expectation was to receive 1200 GEL. He protested instantly there, but he was
answered that the currency exchange office was purchasing dollar for this price and since the
operator had already drawn a cheque, the money (500 USD) could not be returned.
Neither R.B. agreed to take 1020 GEL, nor the operator was willing to return the exchanged amount.
To prevent provocation and conflict, R.B. called Patrol Police, who confirmed that the "less" money
was still on the spot and R.B. only after this took it. The Patrol Police claimed that they had many
analogous calls for similar cases.
R.B. demanded compensation of 180 GEL for material damages before the Court, because the
transaction was made by deceit.

Employment Law -Termination, Organizationl Changes

Teona Gachechiladze — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0400

Claimant I.G. had been employed on various positions at defendant Non-entrepreneurial (Noncommercial)
Legal Entity Senaki Municipality Sport Association (hereinafter – N(N)LE, cassator,
appellant) since 2007. S/he worked as a Public Relations Specialist on the basis of open-ended
employment contract concluded between the parties on January 27, 2016, and his/her monthly salary was
400 GEL.
Staff list and salary rates of the defendant N(N)LE were approved under the Order No. 55 of March 28,
2016 of the director of the N(N)LE, by which 10 staffing position were reduced including one of the
specialists in public relations affairs. On 26 February, 2016, the plaintiff was warned about a possible
dismissal from the current position due to organizational changes on the basis of Article 37, I, a) of the
Labor Code ("LC"). By the Order No.64 of March 30, 2016, the claimant was dismissed from his/her
position on April 1, 2016, with the final payment - compensation equal to one-month salary.
The staff reduction made by the N(N) LE’s management was preceded by the letter of January 18, 2016,
from Senaki Municipality Governor to defendant’s administration. The letter was stating that N(N)LE
should have taken appropriate measures to allocate the amount not envisaged in the budget, viz. 10380
GEL for implementation of infrastructural projects in the Senaki Municipality in 2016 according to the
ordinance No.594 of the Government of Georgia of November 25, 2015. The author of the letter
requested to obtain aforementioned amount within the framework of the Sports Promotion Program. On
the same day, the Senaki Municipality Administration was notified in writing that the necessary amount
- 16 000 GEL was allocated through reduction of staffing position.
I.G. filed a lawsuit against the employer by which s/he requested annulment of defendant’s Orders No. 55
of March 28, 2016 and No. 64 of March 30, 2016 and reinstatement in work, as well as remuneration of
lost earnings - 400 GEL per month until reinstatement in work.

Empoyment Law - Penalty for Payment Delay

Megi Bakuridze — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0400

The plaintiff's claims about annulment of the order and compensating lost earnings were fully satisfied.
After enforcement of the court decision, the plaintiff addressed the Tbilisi City Court with a statement
of claim and requested remuneration of 0.07% of the delayed sum for each day of any delayed payment
– namely, imposition of 6 792,31 GEL in total in favor of the claimant until entering into legal force of
the court decision of May 5, 2015.