Court Practice Research Articles (Page 1)

This study explored why petitioners seek involuntary civil commitment (ICC) for women with substance use disorders under Florida’s Marchman Act Drug Court (MADC). Although ICC has been broadly studied, limited research has examined the specific justifications for commitment, particularly among women. A content analysis was conducted on 42 petitions filed between 2020 and 2024 in one Florida county. Petitions were coded using a hybrid inductive-deductive approach grounded in Florida’s ICC statutory guidelines. Two central themes emerged: substance use impairment and fear of harm. Petitioners frequently cited treatment resistance, social problems, and risk of self-harm, with specific concerns about overdose, suicide, and child neglect. A key limitation is that petitioners may frame their narratives to align with Florida’s statutory criteria. Findings may inform court practices, provider training, and policy decisions regarding the appropriate use and scope of civil commitment. Future research should incorporate respondent perspectives and assess long-term impacts of ICC.

The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the current state of legal regulation of medical services advertising in Ukraine, taking into account national legislation, current practice of the European Court of Justice, and specific peculiarities of administrative liability for violations of legislation in this important social sphere. The relevance of the study is increasing in the context of digitalization, when traditional control mechanisms become ineffective and advertisers find new channels of communication with consumers through social networks, messengers, and other digital platforms. This, in turn, leads to new demands for regulation, as modern forms of advertising of medical services often balance on the edge of legally defined restrictions. The research conducts a detailed analysis of the regulatory activities of Ukrainian authorities and identifies key problematic aspects of legal regulation, particularly the critical expansion of the legislative definition of advertising to include the abstract concept of «idea», which creates significant legal uncertainty regarding the qualification of informational and educational materials distributed by medical institutions and healthcare professionals. Special attention is paid to identifying systemic deficiencies in existing control mechanisms for compliance with advertising legislation in the medical field, especially in the rapidly developed digital space and social networks, where traditional supervision methods prove to be insufficiently effective. The analysis highlights critical gaps in the regulatory framework, including the absence of clear criteria for distinguishing between legitimate medical information and prohibited advertising content, inadequate coordination between different regulatory bodies, and the lack of specialized expertise in evaluating medical advertising claims. The research reveals that current enforcement practices often result in inconsistent application of legal standards, creating additional barriers for healthcare providers seeking to communicate effectively with patients while remaining compliant with advertising restrictions. Based on the conducted analysis, the article proposes specific directions for improving legal regulation in accordance with progressive European standards, including the urgent need to clearly delineate the concepts of «advertising» and «medical information», harmonize provisions of various legislative acts, develop modern digital monitoring tools, and establish transparent procedures for pre-clearance of medical advertising materials.

While Roma law is not officially recognised as “proper law” and remains scarcely known, it is often relied on by Roma parties in litigation before Portuguese courts, most notably in cases involving child marriages and early school leaving by Roma girls. The Roma are Portugal’s most visible ethnic minority and occupy a singular position in the “multicultural jurisprudence” of Portuguese courts, as theirs are the “culture defences” most often brought before the courts, and also those that the courts are most likely to address directly in their reasonings, either to dismiss or to acknowledge their relevance to the adjudication of the cases at bar. Based on findings from a socio-legal research project into the case law of Portuguese courts, conducted between 2018 and 2022, this article discusses how Roma law and its norms about gender roles are reflected and challenged in court practice, based on the reasonings of selected judgments, and on the opinions of judges and prosecutors interviewed for the project.

The article defines the legislative drafting technique and characterises its role in ensuring the rule of law. Formal and material aspects of the rule of law are examined. Criteria for determining whether a law can ensure legal certainty as an element of the rule of law are formulated based on the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The practice of other Ukrainian courts is used to provide examples of low-quality legislation. The case law of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights is analysed to illustrate the importance of clear and unambiguous legislation in safeguarding people’s rights. The criteria of good legislation formulated by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights are listed. The conclusion about the possibility for further development of the theory of good legislation is drawn.

Abstract This commentary is a response to Patrícia Jerónimo’s article ‘Legal translation and the challenges of overcoming language barriers in court practice: Evidence from Portuguese courts’. It offers not only a detailed analysis of how to implement Directive 2010/64/EU in Portugal, but also provides a comprehensive overview of the socioprofessional background and institutional framework behind such implementation. Additionally, it presents concrete suggestions for improving the provision of legal interpretation and translation, focusing on quality standards, visibility, and professional recognition.

This research examines the fundamental concepts of legal proceedings in Indonesian religious courts through the perspectives of sharia and positive law. The main issue studied is how to harmonize these two legal systems in religious court practice. The research method uses a normative juridical approach with comparative analysis of Islamic legal sources and Indonesian legislation. The research findings show that the concept of legal proceedings from a sharia perspective is based on the principles of justice (‘adl), transparency (syafāfiyyah), and public interest (maṣlaḥah) sourced from the Qur’an and Hadith. Meanwhile, Indonesian positive law applies the principles of contradictory proceedings, publicity, and dispositional nature sourced from Herziene Indonesisch Reglement (HIR) and the Rechtsreglement voor de Buitengewesten (RBg). Although there are similarities in the principles of justice and evidence procedures, fundamental differences are found in legal sources, philosophical approaches, and procedural flexibility. Harmonization is achieved through the adoption of peace principles (islah) and sharia evidence systems within the civil procedural law framework. This research recommends the need for reformulation of religious court procedural law that integrates sharia values with the national legal system to achieve legal certainty and substantive justice.

INTRODUCTION. In 2023, the Eurasian Patent Organization prepared and published a Program for the development of the Eurasian Patent Organization until 2028, according to which one of the activities of this regional international organization is the development of the Eurasian dispute resolution system. In addition, the practice of the Intellectual Property Rights Court, a specialized court in the system of arbitration courts of the Russian Federation, indicates a gradually growing number of disputes over Eurasian patents, which inevitably leads to precedent decisions due to the specifics of the legal regulation of relations regarding Eurasian patents. In this regard, it seems relevant to study and evaluate the prospects for the development of dispute resolution mechanisms for Eurasian patents.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The study of the issue under consideration is based on the work of Russian and foreign scientists in the field of patent and international law, the legal regulation of patent dispute resolution, regulatory legal acts of the Eurasian patent legislation, and judicial practice. The methodological basis is based on general scientific and special legal methods (including comparative legal and historical legal methods).THE RESEARCH RESULTS. The study identifies the problems and aspects related to the application of the norms of the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC) and Patent Regulations in the process of dispute resolution on Eurasian patents, such as: the multilevel nature of the legal regulation of Eurasian patents, the lack of mechanisms among the EAPC member states to ensure uniform application of the norms of Eurasian patent legislation, the relationship between the norms of Eurasian patent legislation and national patent law.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. With the view to ensure uniformity in the application of Eurasian patent law, it is proposed to develop mechanisms for inter-judicial cooperation, as well as to create a unified database of court decisions on patent disputes. Currently, the creation of the Eurasian Patent Court seems premature due to the insufficient number of disputes, but this issue remains relevant in the long term, especially given the possible expansion of the list of protected industrial property objects. In any case, this will require the formation of a judicial pool with technical expertise or the involvement of specialists to consult on complex issues. As an alternative solution, it is proposed to establish a quasi-judicial advisory body that will ensure a uniform interpretation of the norms of Eurasian patent legislation and facilitate the proper resolution of disputes.

The article is devoted to determining the legal nature of provocation of a criminal offence and developing proposals for an optimal model of legislative regulation of criminal liability for such acts. The binary nature of provocation is established and characterised, combining the features of complicity (in the form of incitement) and involvement – quasi-lawful activity that poses an independent public danger, encroaching on relations in the sphere of justice. Two types of provocation are distinguished: official and civil. Particular attention is paid to the legal assessment of the actions of law enforcement officers in the context of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the distinction between provocation and lawful activity in documenting criminal unlawful behaviour. Amendments and additions to the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding liability for official and civil provocation are proposed A draft of a new legal norm has been developed – Article 384-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Official provocation of a criminal offence”, in which official provocation is defined as actions by a law enforcement officer to incite a person to commit a criminal offence with the aim of subsequently bringing that person to criminal liability or blackmailing or discrediting. It is justified that the placement of this article after Article 384 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Misleading a court or other authorised body”) is logical, since provocation of a criminal offence, by its generic nature, belongs to law enforcement fictions, which are essentially deception, which subsequently becomes the subject of consideration by the prosecutor (during the approval or drafting of the indictment) and the court (at the trial stage). Arguments are presented in favour of the expediency of excluding Article 370 “Provocation of bribery” from the Criminal Code of Ukraine as redundant in the presence of Article 384-1 de lege ferenda. It is proposed to supplement Article 27 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with Part 8 as follows: “A person who provokes a criminal offence, that is, incites another person to commit a criminal offence with the aim of subsequently bringing that person to criminal liability or blackmailing or discrediting, is an instigator. Official provocation of a criminal offence shall entail criminal liability only in cases specifically provided for in Article 384-1 of this Code”. This addition is aimed at regulating issues of the normative definition and qualification of civil provocation.

ABSTRACT Background. The study explores the key role of the media in the implementation of transitional justice mechanisms, using the example of two different but comparable countries—Ukraine and Taiwan. Both countries have undergone large-scale political transformations: Taiwan from authoritarian control by the Kuomintang party to democratic governance, and Ukraine as a post-Soviet state in a state of armed conflict and simultaneously rethinking its totalitarian past. In both contexts, the media act not only as a channel of information but also as a tool for influencing public opinion, shaping national memory, legitimizing legal processes, and ensuring open dialogue. The objective of this study is to identify similarities and differences in the functioning of the media in transitional justice processes in Ukraine and Taiwan, as well as to determine how they contribute to the achievement of its main objectives: establishing the truth, providing reparations, bringing the perpetrators to justice, and promoting reconciliation. Methods. The methodology of this study is based on an interdisciplinary approach that includes comparative legal analysis of normative acts, content analysis of media publications, a review of scientific literature, and doctrinal studies of the role of the media in legal discourse. The empirical basis consists of official documents, court practice, media materials, and public statements by representatives of transitional justice institutions in each country. Results and conclusions. This study highlights the dual nature of the media: on the one hand, they can support processes of reconciliation and public reappraisal of the past; on the other hand, they can become a source of polarization through political bias or the spread of disinformation. In Taiwan, the media actively covered the activities of the Transitional Justice Commission, promoted the memory of the repressed, and created space for public discussion. In Ukraine, the media operates in the context of ongoing war, focusing on documenting war crimes, exposing disinformation, and mobilizing national resistance. The study's conclusions emphasize that successful transitional justice is impossible without the participation of independent and professional media. Taiwan's experience can be useful for Ukraine in terms of memorialization, archiving crimes, public apologies, and supporting victims' rights. At the same time, Ukraine's practice of countering hybrid warfare, especially in the field of information security, is valuable for Taiwan and other states experiencing pressure from authoritarian regimes.

Abstract The present article is a comparative study of the proportionality practices of the Supreme Court of India and the Constitutional Court of South Africa. It compares the proportionality practices of the apex courts of both countries under different categories some of which are the components of proportionality itself. that the proportionality practices of the Supreme Court, while similar in many respects to that of Constitutional Court of South Africa, suffers from the lack of a uniform proportionality standard. The argument, in part, is based on the Supreme Court’s insistence in treating proportionality as modern version of existing review procedures. The court still uses the principle in unison with pre-existing review procedures, and this, in effect has curtailed the review potential of the principle.

Determining the actual value of a participant’s share in an LLC upon withdrawal remains a controversial issue in corporate law. Legislative gaps, the absence of unified calculation methods, and the risks of overestimating or underestimating the value create a breeding ground for conflicts between participants and the company. The author’s goal is to explore the contradictions in legal regulation, analyze the positions of scholars, and examine court practices. Based on a critical approach to existing mechanisms, the article proposes measures to improve legislation, including standardizing evaluation procedures and strengthening guarantees for protecting the rights of participants.

The dynamic growth of business activities in Indonesia has increased debt–credit transactions, which can lead to disputes when debtors fail to meet obligations, particularly in bankruptcy. Law No. 37 of 2004 on Bankruptcy and Suspension of Debt Payment Obligations provides a framework for asset settlement and protection for secured creditors (separatist creditors). However, issues arise when the collateral’s execution value is insufficient to cover the debtor’s total debt, leaving a shortfall unpaid. This study examines the legal protection for separatist creditors in such cases and remedies available when the curator fails to pay the remaining debt. Using a normative juridical method with statutory and conceptual approaches, the research is based on primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials analyzed qualitatively. The findings show that the Bankruptcy Law does not clearly regulate the procedure for claiming such shortfalls, creating legal uncertainty and inconsistent commercial court practices. The study concludes that the law should be reformed to expressly allow the shortfall to be claimed as a concurrent debt and that the Supreme Court should issue guidelines to ensure consistent interpretation and strengthen legal protection for separatist creditors.

This article discusses the concept of judicial review and the role of the judiciary within the Dutch constitutional law system, which constitutionally prohibits courts from reviewing the constitutionality of statutes through Article 120 of the Grondwet (Dutch Constitution). However, in practice, various indirect mechanisms allow for the continued exercise of judicial oversight over legislation. This article aims to examine how judicial institutions in the Netherlands contribute to constitutional oversight despite the formal prohibition of judicial review. The main research question explored is: How do judicial institutions in the Netherlands fill the void left by the absence of constitutional judicial review?. The article employs a normative and comparative approach. The comparative element involves both an internal comparison—between legal norms and judicial practices within the Netherlands—and an external comparison with selected foreign constitutional systems that permit judicial review. The approach is not limited to doctrinal analysis; it also incorporates secondary data drawn from court practices and legal developments in case law. The role of the Raad van State as a legislative advisor and administrative court, as well as the Hoge Raad as the Supreme Court that develops progressive legal interpretations, serves as a key instrument in controlling the quality of regulations. In addition, Dutch national courts also invoke international law—particularly the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)—as a basis for refusing to apply national laws that conflict with human rights, pursuant to Article 94 of the Grondwet.

The purpose of the research is to conduct a deep study of the issue related to the origin of individual ownership of spouses over property acquired during the marriage upon the termination of marriage, and to clarify the legal or practical significance of marriage registration, starting a cohabitation, or ending a cohabitation during the registered marriage when dividing property. Specifically, when and under what conditions can property acquired during marriage be considered in co-ownership of spouses according to the Civil Code of Georgia and court practice?. According to the Constitution of Georgia, the right to own and inherit property shall be recognized and guaranteed, and marriage, as a union of a woman and a man for the purpose of founding a family, shall be based on the equality of rights and the free will of spouses. The ongoing number of disputes in courts, related to the research topic, indicates its relevance. At a glance, this issue does not seem problematic, as the relevant norms of the Civil Code of Georgia provide a solution to it. However, through a reasonable interpretation of the norm, the registered marriage does not automatically establish a co-ownership regime over the property. The purpose of this article is to emphasize, through an analysis of judicial best practice, the importance of marriage registration and the role of a household. In certain cases, the existence of a household economy is a decisive factor in deeming property as co-owned. With the development of law, in relation to human rights, the classic exceptions given in a separate norm, by systematic, substantive definition, give a different rule for solving the issue, as the State acknowledges and protects universally recognized human rights and freedoms as eternal and supreme human values. While exercising authority, the people and the State shall be bound by these rights and freedoms as directly applicable law.

The article is devoted to the study of the principle of good faith and its interaction with other principles of civil law in terms of their interrelation and role in civil regulation. The author analyzes their normative consolidation, functional significance, and application in legal practice, with particular attention to the issues of distinguishing and harmonizing these categories. Theoretical approaches to the concept of «abuse of rights», its correlation with good faith, as well as the practice of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation regarding their application, are also examined.

The high divorce rate in Indonesia has serious implications for child protection, particularly with regard to custody rights, which are often disputed in religious courts. In this context, the principle of the best interests of the child is a universal principle that judges must consider when determining custody rights. This study aims to examine the implementation of this principle in religious court practice through a case study of Decision Number 1278/Pdt.G/2023/PA.Mks at the Makassar Religious Court, while also reviewing its relevance to maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah. The research uses a qualitative approach with a theological-normative design, combining the analysis of positive legal documents, Islamic legal theory, and the maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah framework. Data was obtained through the study of decisions, Islamic family law literature, and supporting interviews, then analyzed through a process of reduction, categorization, and normative interpretation. The results of the study show that the panel of judges in this case not only considered formal legal aspects, but also psychological, emotional, social, economic, and child care environment factors as the basis for determining custody rights. These considerations reflect the application of the principle of the best interests of the child, as they place the welfare of the child above the interests of the parents. From the perspective of maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah, this decision is in line with the main objectives of sharia, namely the protection of life (ḥifẓ al-nafs), reason (ḥifẓ al-‘aql), and offspring (ḥifẓ al-nasl), so that it can be seen as a judicial practice that is responsive to Islamic values and contemporary social needs. Thus, this study emphasizes the importance of integrating the principle of the best interests of the child with maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah in religious court practices, while also contributing conceptually to the development of Islamic family law that is more adaptive, humanistic, and oriented towards child protection in Indonesia.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the practice of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (hereinafter – CCU) regarding the interpretation of the principle of the rule of law in the context of criminal law. The relevance of this research stems from the insufficient attention paid by domestic legal scholarship to the content and specific features of how the CCU interprets this principle in criminal law matters. The article analyzes a number of CCU decisions in which the principle of the rule of law was invoked as an argument in assessing the constitutionality of criminal law provisions. The aim of the article is to determine whether the CCU follows a consistent or at least dominant approach to the interpretation of the rule of law principle in criminal law, whether the Court is consistent in its reasoning, and— should any issues be identified—to propose recommendations for addressing them. The study reveals that the CCU does not adhere to a unified approach when interpreting the principle of the rule of law, instead employing integral, element-based, and complex methods of interpretation without sufficient legal and logical justification for their selection. Furthermore, the analysis identifies terminological instability and a lack of in-depth reasoning in the Court’s conclusions concerning the examined principle, which negatively affects the value of its decisions as sources of law. The author emphasizes that these shortcomings are partly due to the lack of thorough academic reflection on the interpretation of the rule of law in the criminal law dimension. Therefore, the article underlines the need to develop a unified approach to interpreting the rule of law in criminal law and calls on the academic community to engage more actively in this field of research. The article leaves room for further scholarly research, which holds promise in the outlined area, particularly regarding the application by national courts of the analyzed practice of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in interpreting the principle of the rule of law in criminal law.

The study is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the conceptual foundations, main features and practical aspects of the functioning of international human rights standards in the modern globalized world. The relevance of the work is due to the need to form a holistic theoretical approach to understanding the nature of international standards in the context of the dynamic development of international law and the adoption of over 300 international documents in the field of human rights.The work analyzes the evolution of conceptual approaches to defining international human rights standards, starting from the 2012 Declaration on the Rule of Law and UN General Assembly Resolution No. 41/120. Particular attention is paid to the study of the main characteristics of the standards: establishing the content and scope of human rights, their minimal nature as the “least acceptable compromise”, the obligation of compliance and model for national legal systems.A significant part of the study is devoted to the analysis of the paradox of the universality of international standards, which consists in combining their global nature with the possibility of various culturally specific interpretations. The practice of the European Court of Human Rights on the application of the doctrine of “margin of appreciation” and the approaches of different civilizations to the interpretation of fundamental rights and freedoms is considered. The need for a dialogue of civilizations to form a “consensus” language in the field of human rights is substantiated.Special attention is paid to practical aspects of the implementation of international standards, in particular the problem of establishing a fair balance between individual and collective interests. The process of standardization of the social significance of formally distinct legal phenomena and the dialectics of essence and form in the application of international standards are analyzed. The specifics of the maximum abstractness of the terminology of international standards and the features of their official interpretation in specific historical conditions are considered.The study demonstrates the complex and multidimensional nature of international human rights standards, their dynamic nature and ability to adapt to changing social needs, while maintaining the fundamental focus on protecting human dignity and ensuring justice on a global scale.

The aim of the article will be to analyze the regulation of supervision over local government in the Polish Constitution and in the legal system regulating the supervision of local government. The implementation of this objective will allow to demonstrate to what extent supervision has constitutional authority and whether the constitutional regulation is complied with in legislation. Therefore, this study will omit those issues related to supervision that do not directly arise from the Constitution. In particular, this applies to the supervisory procedure.The content of this study includes an analysis of the concept of supervision itself, supervisory criteria and supervisory authorities.The basic research method will be the dogmatic method focusing on the interpretation of constitutional norms and the presentation of the positions and views of representatives of science. The research method used will also include an analysis of selected and representative court case law and the presentation of practical examples of supervision and their assessment by administrative courts.The Polish Constitution uses the concept of supervision without defining it. It is interpreted in the same way in Polish doctrine as well as in judicial jurisprudence, emphasizing its most important element, i.e. the authoritative and unilateral interference in the activities of local government bodies by the supervisory authority. This is how it differs from control, which does not include this form of influence.The Polish Constitution defines the criterion of supervision for supervision too narrowly, as well as incompletely defines supervisory bodies. It ignores the criterion of proportionality, which limits the right to authoritative intervention in the activities of local government to cases of a material violation of the law. In addition, the legislator assigns criteria of a purposeful or efficiency nature to supervisory authorities. Many government administration bodies, such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Voivodeship Superintendent of Schools, exercise supervisory powers over local governments, even though they are not supervisory bodies within the meaning of the Constitution.The incompatibility of the laws with the Constitution in terms of the criterion of supervision and the number of bodies with supervisory competences does not have a significant impact on the independence of local government.This is due to the occasional application of supervisory criteria other than legality and the generally uniform position of administrative courts, which always reduce the assessment of supervisory activities to the criterion of legality. The practice of administrative courts allows for the elimination of these differences. There is no mention of the need for an urgent change to the Polish Constitution.

Assessment of the effectiveness of international legal mechanisms for environmental protection: Environmental issues in the practice of international courts