Employees' Protection

This chapter describes the conflict between employers' legitimate rights and employees' right to privacy and data protection as a result of the shift in workplace surveillance from a non-digital to a technologically advanced one. Section 1 describes the transition from non-digital workplace surveillance to an Internet-centred one, where “smart” devices are in a dominant position. Section 2 focuses on the legal framework (supranational and national legislation and case law) of workplace surveillance. In section 3, one case study regarding wearable technology and the law is carried out to prove that national and European legislation are not adequate to deal with all issues and ambiguities arising from the use of novel surveillance technology at work. The chapter concludes by noting that the adoption of sector specific legislation for employees' protection is necessary, but it would be incomplete without a general framework adopting modern instruments of data protection.

This chapter describes the conflict between employers' legitimate rights and employees' right to privacy and data protection as a result of the shift in workplace surveillance from a non-digital to a technologically advanced one. Section 1 describes the transition from non-digital workplace surveillance to an Internet-centred one, where “smart” devices are in a dominant position. Section 2 focuses on the legal framework (supranational and national legislation and case law) of workplace surveillance. In section 3, one case study regarding wearable technology and the law is carried out to prove that national and European legislation are not adequate to deal with all issues and ambiguities arising from the use of novel surveillance technology at work. The chapter concludes by noting that the adoption of sector specific legislation for employees' protection is necessary, but it would be incomplete without a general framework adopting modern instruments of data protection.

The Mediterranean Basin is among the top biodiversity hotspots globally due to the high endemism and the vast number of flora and fauna species harbored in its ecosystems. Hellenic ecosystems, being also Mediterranean ecosystems, are biodiversity hotspots that harbor 22% of the species found across the Mediterranean basin, while 10% of the plants occurring in them are endemic. The value of conserving biodiversity in natural ecosystems was recognized at the national level as early as 1937 and ever since a great part of the Hellenic ecosystems is conserved in situ under national and European legislation, as well under International Conventions. A solid, but also large and complicated legal framework is in effect in the country for the protection of the biodiversity and the genetic resources. The legal framework includes Laws that have incorporated Regional (EU) and International legislation into the national legal framework, as well as the national legislation on the conservation of nature, biodiversity and genetic resources. In the current chapter the above legal framework, under which a notable part of the surface of the country is currently protected, will be presented in short.

In year 1 of the SEISMED project, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven coordinated the inventory and analysis of medical personal data protection legislation in Europe. A report on legal issues of medical data protection legislation in Europe was written by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique (Paris) and the University College Dublin. This report served as a basis for a second important legal deliverable, i.e. the Health Informatics Deontology Code. In this third and final report, we take into account the results of the other two legal reports and we formulate recommendations for the national and European legislator. This report analyses critically the upcoming privacy directive. We propose several recommendations which should be taken into account by the European and national legislator. We focused quite extensively on the use of medical data for research purposes. We had several reasons to do this. One of them is the fact that the use of medical data for research purposes is very popular, in particular now the health care sector is becoming more and more ‘standardized’ by using computers, networksystems and telematics. Legislation is therefore needed. Moreover, the use of medical data for research purposes involves the transfer of data from one Member State to another. Therefore, a harmonized legislation is really needed. We hope that the recommendations we propose, will be taken into consideration by the European legislator.

The article reveals the features of the system of legal guarantees for the implementation of the administrative-legal status of the Commissioner for ECHR affairs. It was established that it is not enough to enshrine the rights and duties of a public servant in national legislation, it is necessary to provide forms (legal procedures) and guarantees of their implementation (legal guarantees). Precisely because of this, when the activity of a subject of public administration or an individual public servant becomes ineffective, the question arises about the guarantees that ensure its activity and contribute to the realization of its legal status. It has been proven that the material guarantees of the realization of the administrative-legal status of the Commissioner for ECHR cases are fixed mainly by the norms of national legislation, while the organizational guarantees - by the norms of European legislation, which is clearly confirmed by the provisions of national and European legislation. It is emphasized that the state «Ukraine» (represented by the Commissioner for ECHR affairs), as a party to the case under consideration at the ECHR, has its own set of legal guarantees that allow protecting the authority of the country as a democratic, legal and social state that resolves all issues based on the priority of human and citizen rights and freedoms. It was concluded that the guarantees of the implementation of the administrative and legal status of the Commissioner for the ECHR are the means of direct implementation of the tasks, functions, rights and duties stipulated by the acts of national and European legislation, which are fixed for the position of the Commissioner for the ECHR. It has been proven that the guarantees of the implementation of the administrative and legal status of the Commissioner for the ECHR include: 1) the norms of administrative law that establish the legal status of the Commissioner for the ECHR, namely, the tasks, functions, rights and duties assigned to this political position ; 2) principles of consideration of the case at the ECtHR; 3) legal institutions of additional legal, social or other assistance and support; 4) forms of procedural activity of the ECtHR; 5) actions of individual participants in the process. It was established that none of the national or European acts analyzed by us provide for coercive measures that would be applied to the Commissioner for ECHR cases as a person who poorly or ineffectively fulfills his official duties. It is proposed to enshrine the grounds of «responsibility» of persons holding political positions in the system of executive authorities in the national legislation.

The European Council has established the first legal framework for the fundamental right to the protection of personal data, namely the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108). The right to the protection of personal data is closely linked - but not identical - to the right of private life established by Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (hereinafter, the ECHR). Article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (hereinafter, the Charter) expressly recognized the right of private life as an autonomous fundamental right. The importance awarded by the EU to the protection of personal data is also highlighted at Article 16 of the TFEU. The protection of personal data arises out of the question of the protection of individual rights by the State and has evolved into the question of how the the State treats and uses its citizens' personal data. On the contrary, in private commercial relationships, the right to the protection of personal data has a horizontal dimension. Does the Charter's fundamental right of personal data protection have direct effect in domestic legal orders? The CJEU has not yet pronounced on the enforceability of this right, however the legal scholar has already considered that Article 16 of the TFEU can be directly invoked. To be directly enforceable in front of domestic jurisdiction, the right to the protection of personal data should be specified by a specific legislation in the EU. To have a full picture it is thus paramount to consider the details of legislation in combination with primary law.Thus, in the next European legislature, a general reform of the data protection framework is envisaged to account for the challenges posed by new technologies of information, globalisation and the increasingly common practice of using personal data to prevent criminal and terrorist actions. The legislative package for the protection of personal data concerns two proposals: a Regulation that generally covers the treatment of personal data within the EU, both in the private and public sectors, and a Directive on Data Retention that aims to prevent, detect or to pursue criminal acts. This contribution not only clarifies the specific content of companies' obligations to respect the European standard for the protection of personal data but also discusses the proposal to revise the general framework to respect the Charter's acknowledgment of the fundamental right of personal data protection. The forthcoming legislative reform will represent an important reference point for countries - such as Switzerland - that are not members of the European Union. This paper assesses whether the European legislative reform on the protection of personal data, in conjunction with national law, responds in a satisfactory manner to the challenges posed by technological evolution and widespread use of the Internet. In recent years, the question of State regulation of the processing of personal data by private companies has become urgent as allegations of unauthorized access to personal data have been hotly debated in the European press. Thus, the paper shall first analyse, the appropriateness of European and States' legislation to properly regulate the effective protection of personal data, in particular of obligations applicable to companies storing and processing personal data on European soil. Does the proposed European legislation in the context of the EU's international agreements with the US provide sufficient legal safeguards to ensure the effective protection of personal data in the post-Snowden era? Specific subparts are devoted to the European reform of companies' criminal liability in cases of cyber-attack (a) and of specific obligations imposed on providers of cloud computing services (b). In the second part, I comment on the interpretation of the European data-protection legislation, provided by the Court of Justice, regarding the obligations imposed upon 'intermediaries' that process personal data, such as the Internet service providers (a) and Internet search engines (b). The Court of Justice has interpreted the European legislation in a manner that allows courts and national authorities to impose on companies a set of safeguards to protect individuals against the infringement of copyright and privacy rights.

The article highlights the legal concerns surrounding the protection of minors' personal data. The writers have conducted an original study of the sources regulating civil and labor relations in the field of acquiring and using personal data. The expansion and use of information technology and online communications can potentially lead to the violation of personal rights by the owners of personal data, both in workplace settings and in the daily lives of ordinary residents. The purpose of this article is to highlight issues concerning the collection, storage, use, and dissemination of the personal data of a minor, as well as to develop methods to protect the personal data of a child based on a comprehensive analysis of international acts, Ukrainian legislation, unique literature, and case law materials pertaining to the protection of personal data of a minor. Based on the analysis of national legislation and case law of the European Union, the author concludes that the right to personal data protection is one of the forms of realization of the right to respect for private and family life. The obligation to protect person's rights to processing and storage of his or her private information is a negative obligation on the part of both the State and the owners of personal data. The article addresses current difficulties concerning the security of children' personal data under current civil and medical legislation in Ukraine and other countries. The provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and Ukraine's "On Personal Data Protection" Law are compared. Possible steps to establish further protection of children's personal data during collection and processing, whether utilizing websites, video games, online purchases, and so on, are proposed. The paper concludes that state functions should be executed without necessitating individuals' consent for the collection of personal data. Personal data processing should be carried out within the framework and on the basis of Ukrainian laws and regulations, taking into account international conventions in this area. The analysis of methods for safeguarding children's personal data enabled the identification of supplementary avenues for data protection. These include acquiring copies of personal data by both children and their parents, rectifying inaccuracies, completing incomplete data, exercising the 'right to be forgotten' and the 'right to erasure' of personal data, invalidating transactions, and seeking compensation for material and moral damages arising from the unlawful use of personal data

Sanığın haklarını güvence altına alan en önemli haklardan birisi de adil yargılanma hakkıdır. Ulusal ve uluslararası mevzuata bakıldığında adil yargılanma hakkının birçok alt hak ve ilkeyi de içerisinde barındırdığı görülecektir. Avrupa İnsan Hakları Sözleşmesi ve Ceza Muhakemesi Kanunu’nda açıkça düzenlenmemişse de, bu haklardan birisi sanığın duruşmada hazır bulunma hakkıdır. Bununla birlikte gelişen teknoloji ve modernleşme sonucunda Sesli ve Görüntülü Bilişim Sistemi (SEGBİS) uygulamamıza girmiştir. Faydaları olduğu gibi sakıncalarının da olduğu belirtilen SEGBİS uygulaması ile yargılama yapılması zaman zaman eleştirilmektedir. Bu çalışmada da, sanığın duruşmada hazır bulunma hakkı ve SEGBİS sistemi arasındaki ilişki, adil yargılanma hakkı kapsamında, gerek uluslararası gerekse de ulusal mevzuat ve içtihatlar bakımından incelenmiş; doktrindeki görüşler, yargı kararları ve ulaşılan sonuçlar aktarılmaya çalışılmıştır.

Legal support for an environmentally balanced system of natural resource management in terms of European integration of Ukraine

The legal nature of video games in terms of copyright is hard to determine. Video games are highly interactive multimedia that are made up of individual elements that are the ‘product’ of creative effort and expertise. Video games are also complex multimedia works that combine video, music, art and characters. There is a debate on which work is qualified to be copyright protected: is it the video game as a whole or the individual elements of it? To question further, under which category of protected works should they be classified? This article will shed light on the above considerations by employing a combination of doctrinal and comparative analyses. European and national legislation and case law will be analysed, with particular emphasis on four national jurisdictions: Germany, France, Greece and the UK. The article discusses the divergent opinions among academics, national and European case law, and will suggest that copyright registration of video games would provide more clarity.

If one of the EU Institutions is asked by a citizen to disclose a document which contains personal data, a difficult and sensitive situation can arise. The person asking for the information invokes his or her right of access to documents, while the Institution is obliged to respect the right to data protection of the person to whom the information in the document relates. Two fundamental rights can lead to opposing claims. How this collision can be solved is the focus of this article. It appears that the current legislation in which the right to public access to documents (Regulation 1049/2001) and the right to data protection (Regulation 45/2001) are elaborated does not sufficiently address this possible collision. Although in November 2007 the Court of First Instance has clarified the legal framework to a certain extent, in the judgment in the so-called Bavarian Lager case, questions still remain. It is therefore argued that the legislation should be changed in this respect. Inspired by examples from national legislation and case law from the European Court of Justice as well as the European Court of Human Rights a concrete proposal is developed, which is timely since the Regulation on access to documents is currently under revision.

Employee monitoring is becoming more and more important in today’s world of digital innovation because of the broad adoption of technologies that both boost productivity and threaten employee privacy. Better legal frameworks are needed for practices like tracking GPS, analysing email conversations, and monitoring computer activity. This is required for achieving a fair balance between employee privacy rights and data protection. Nowadays, there are nearly limitless opportunities for monitoring thanks to the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology. This advancement in employee monitoring, while offering significant benefits for resource management and security, also raises new challenges in terms of privacy and ethics. The purpose of this article is to explore and identify a balanced approach to employee monitoring in the modern world, where digital technologies are becoming increasingly important in the workplace. By examining the effects of commonly used technologies that, while increasing productivity, may also pose a risk to employee privacy, the authors attempt to strike a healthy balance between data protection and privacy rights.

The issue of legal liability in the pharmaceutical sector is one of the key topics of modern legal regulation of healthcare. In the countries of the European Union (EU), where the pharmaceutical industry has reached a high level of development, this issue is becoming particularly relevant. The aim of the work is to establish the main problematic aspects of harmonizing EU pharmaceutical law with national sectoral legislation. To analyze examples of law enforcement and the experience of the EU. Results. The insufficient level of legislative coherence is proven. The analysis showed that discrepancies between the national legislation of individual countries and European regulations create significant challenges in implementing uniform quality standards for medicines. This complicates the effective fight against drug falsification and ensuring transparency of the pharmaceutical market. The role of legal liability is emphasized. Legal liability in the pharmaceutical sector performs an important regulatory function, contributing to the protection of patients’ rights and ensuring justice in cases of violation of norms. However, the level of its implementation largely depends on the harmonization of the legislative framework and clear mechanisms for bringing it to justice. It has been confirmed that the harmonization of national legislation with European standards (in particular Directive 2011/62/EU and Regulation 2016/161) is a necessary condition for increasing the effectiveness of control over the circulation of medicinal products. The implementation of drug verification systems, mandatory labeling and digital tracking tools is of particular significance. Conclusions. Harmonization of national and European legislation in the pharmaceutical sector is a key condition for ensuring effective control over the circulation of medicinal products and protecting patients’ rights. Strengthening legal responsibility, the implementation of digital tools and the harmonization of legal norms will contribute to the fight against the falsification of medicines and the creation of a transparent market.

This chapter explores some of the barriers to the application of non-discrimination law in Romania through the few gender discrimination cases from the country that have reached the ECtHR. Unlike the other contributions in this volume, this chapter does not focus on the national legislation on non-discrimination implementing EU law or on the national case law on sex discrimination. This is due to the poor availability of sources, but also due to the fact that the ECtHR cases offer a more comprehensive view of the domestic (mis)application of the non-discrimination principle, since they were adjudicated under Article 14 ECHR, which has much broader scope than EU anti-discrimination law as transposed in the national legislation.

In this paper, the analysis and assessment of the effectiveness of the legal regulation of personal data circulation at the level of international law enforcement was carried out. The issues of the development and introduction of new mechanisms that can adequately regulate relations in the sphere of the circulation of confidential personal data are considered. This is primarily due to the fact that the human right to privacy, including respect for his personal data, is one of the fundamental principles that guarantee democratic, humane and fair interaction between the state, society and a specific individual. Ukrainian national legislation and judicial practice are still at the development stage, therefore, in the context of the implementation of the aspirations for European integration, the work addresses the very topical issue of careful study of European and world standards for protecting personal information about a person and adapting them to our legal system. The necessary measures have been studied for the further development of systemic legislation on the protection of personal data, which is a determining factor in civil society development, proper regulation in this area, both in terms of material and legal support, and in terms of developing stable and expected law enforcement practices.Analyzed the legal positions contained in international treaties, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950, and numerous national laws, where the protection of personal data is understood as an integral part of the human right to privacy. . The principles of activity in this area of the European Court of Human Rights are evaluated. The basic principles of dispute resolution, such as legality, timeliness of processing, proportionality of intervention, are studied. Concrete examples of decisions of the ECHR, including in cases against Ukraine, are given. It has been taken into account that this organization is entitled not only with regard to the issuance of a verdict in a particular case, but also through the adoption of a case-law that is obligatory for use on the territory of all Member States, it can exercise so-called judicial justice. This is done by interpreting, clarifying and specifying the content of the general provisions of the convention norms to the situations of a particular case.The case law of the ECtHR on the positive regulation of the private life of a person is noted by defining and establishing boundaries that, from the point of view of the moral foundations of society, are permissible and will not be regarded as undue interference by the legislator. The relevant criteria are assessed, formed on the basis of a judicial investigation of various interests in specific situations by the Court. The legal approaches of the European Court of Human Rights to regulating relations in the field of processing so-called “sensitive” personal data have been especially carefully studied. In particular, attention is paid to the principles of confidentiality, which is required when processing information about human health.The shortcomings of the national justice are indicated, which should be corrected in the light of the European Court's case law. It is concluded that the European judicial practice is an important benchmark to ensure proper protection of personal data in our country. This is very important because the Ukrainian legal system, in contrast to European national and international legislation (which began to pay attention to the special regulation of relations for the protection of personal data from the 80s of the last century) is only at the beginning of such a process. Therefore, it requires improving the quality of Ukrainian law and law enforcement in terms of their focus in the democratic direction of ensuring the right to respect for private life.