Supreme Authority Research Articles

Negotiating Sovereignty in German History—Historiographical Challenges

AbstractThis article introduces a special issue on the politics of sovereignty in German history. Historical work provides an important corrective to understand the current discursive resurgence of sovereignty. Historians (and other scholars) should treat sovereignty not as a factual description of the world, but rather analyze it as a rhetorical claim to assert power in territorial, political, economic, legal, and cultural disputes. Much of the power of sovereignty lies in the power to define its boundaries, whether geographical or conceptual. German history offers a particularly fruitful route to historicize the concept, as Germany is arguably both a paradigmatic and a special case in the history of sovereignty. From late-nineteenth-century colonialism to contemporary disputes around gambling restrictions, German discourse on sovereignty has intertwined with and challenged international understandings of sovereignty together with neighboring concepts, such as independence, autonomy, supreme authority, and control. In the twentieth century, perhaps no country experienced stronger affirmations of both sovereignty and the necessity to integrate into inter- and supranational structures than the country at the center of the two world wars and subsequently divided during the Cold War.

The role of the state in preventing new challenges and threats in the modern period: functional and legal analysis of problems related to ensuring national security

This article is devoted to determining the state's role in preventing new challenges and threats in the modern period. New challenges and threats are identified by analyzing problematic issues related to ensuring national security is carried out. Particular attention is paid to the problems of ensuring the coordinated functioning and interaction of state bodies. The authors believe that violation of the principle of ensuring the unity of state power can lead to negative consequences for the entire system of the state. It is proposed to analyze all regulatory legal acts of a subordinate nature to identify the reasons that hinder the coordinated interaction of state bodies. One of the primary tasks in ensuring national security is ensuring external security and countering terrorism.  It is concluded that special attention of all state bodies should be paid to strengthening state independence, the integrity of the state, and the unity of the people based on a single territory, single citizenship, a single supreme authority, a single system of law, a single state language. Keywords: ensuring national security, coordinated functioning and interaction, unity of state power, countering terrorism.

ЖУРНАЛ РЕГИОНАЛЬНОЙ ИСТОРИИ Т. 6 №3 Военный министр Российской империи А.Ф. Редигер – между службой и политикой

The Russian Empire of the early 20th century saw gradual alienation of the supreme authority represented by the emperor and his inner circle from the bureaucracy and the generals who were their most important supporters, which contributed to the political crisis escalation. The article considers this issue on the example of certain aspects of the administrative and political activities of Alexander Roediger, General of Infantry, who served as Minister of War in 1905–09. The article shows his attempts to solve personnel problems in the army by removing unqualified personnel from the Higher Command, which caused discontent among the courtiers. The author analyzes A. Roediger’s political views, which can be described as moderately liberal. The Minister of War himself never went public about them, considering it unacceptable for an officer to engage in politics. However, due to his position, he could not completely distance himself from politics, especially during the revolutionary upheavals of 1905–07. Alexander Roediger belonged to those statesmen of Russia who sought to carry out serious reforms along the lines of constitution through a constructive dialogue with the legislative authority. The article also notes his role in preserving the Second State Duma during the “Zurabov incident,” his close cooperation within his ministerial powers with the Third Duma State Defense Commission, and so on. Such a course of the government official turned out to be unacceptable for Nicholas II, which caused resignation of Roediger. The desire of Minister of War Alexander Roediger to improve the state of things in the army through cooperation with moderately liberal deputies (members of the Octobrist Party) aroused suspicions of his political disloyalty, for which there were actually no grounds, and the attempts to solve personnel problems by purging of senior officers brought into question the established personnel policy in such an important area for the tsar as the imperial army. The material analyzed in the article convincingly shows that absolute loyalty to the monarch was the main personnel principle of the last reign. It implied that any attempts of a government official to manage his sphere as he deemed necessary in the interests of the cause rather than as it was understood by the monarch were doomed to fail.

МНОГООБРАЗИЕ И ЕДИНСТВО В УПРАВЛЕНИИ «ИНОСТРАННЫМИ ИСПОВЕДАНИЯМИ» РОССИЙСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ

In this article, which is an abridged version of the monograph’s chapter [Paul W. Werth, The Tsar’s Foreign Faiths: Toleration and the Fate of Religious Freedom in Imperial Russia (Oxford, 2014)], the author examines the history of the organization of the system of administration of “foreign confessions” — non-Orthodox religious communities in Russia in the last third of the 18th — mid 19th century. According to the author, this system, which he calls “the multi-confessional establishment”, was flexible and included significant elements of compromise. On the one hand, with the undoubted primacy of the Orthodox Church, most of the non-Orthodox confessions were granted, in one way or another, the status of state institutions. This strengthened their position, enabled their clergy to be involved in the processes of government and, at the same time, strengthened the internal unity of the Empire. On the other hand, as the imperial state apparatus developed and a tendency towards unification became more prominent, from the second half of the 19th century onwards the supreme authorities began to worry that the integration of different groups through religious institutions might threaten state cohesion. Nevertheless, until the collapse of the Russian monarchy the autocracy never succeeded in developing an alternative model for the administration of religious affairs.

RELIGIOSITY AND MENTAL HEALTH: THE MISSING LINK

With the increasing volume of mental health illness in Pakistan, there is always a need to develop effective methods for the amelioration of those mental illness. The modern science and technology have resulted in the development of sophisticated techniques and methods in the form of both psychotropic medicines, and psychotherapy to aid the mentally ill recover from mental illness. But the Western developed methods and techniques do not fully encompass the social aspects inherent in mentally ill people in Muslim societies. The need for the introduction and integration of Muslim form of psychotherapy is utmost and can not be ignored. The Muslim form of psychotherapy is built upon the Islamic teachings and principles and employs techniques such as meditation, reading, and performing religious duties. The goal of such Islamic techniques is to restore the equilibrium and make the mentally ill person to regain meanings in life by exploring knowledge and redefining one’s relationship with Allah. Allah is the supreme authority and chief therapist in Islamic model. The psychotherapist facilitates the mentally ill person find the lost meaning and to follow the right path towards utilizing one’s full potential.  

The popular sovereignty of Indigenous peoples: a challenge in multi-people states

ABSTRACT The doctrine of popular sovereignty holds that the ‘supreme authority of the state’ belongs to the people, not to the political institutions exercising public power. What are the implications of this view when there is more than one people in the territory of that state? The case of Indigenous peoples highlights this question, as they are unequivocally peoples who are distinct from the majority population. This paper subjects to criticism of the received view according to which the inclusion of Indigenous peoples in democratic institutions is sufficient for the realization of their popular sovereignty. Instead, we argue that their constituent power must be recognized – the power to create and negotiate the constitutional order. The realization of popular sovereignty in settler states thus necessitates a process where the constitutional order is negotiated by Indigenous peoples and the majority population in conditions where the two parties are mutually recognized as sovereign.

THE PLACE OF LEGAL CULTURE IN THE CONDITIONS OF OVERCOMING THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS INFECTION

Coronary infection COVID-19 led to a global crisis in all spheres of social activity and the state: economy, social relations, education, medicine; forced to revise legal norms and enact laws and by-laws, Regulating human behaviour in a new pandemic. Its worst effects are the massive loss of life on all continents, both from the disease itself and from its complications. Only in the Russian Federation, in the period 2020 - 2021, has the supreme authorities repeatedly adopted decisions on the introduction and extension of a special provision for the implementation of masks in enterprises and organizations of various forms of ownership; Establishment of a social distance of 1.5 m, transfer of children’s pre-school and educational institutions to distance learning, etc. Similar restrictions have been imposed abroad in countries where the rates of new infections and deaths are high. The invention and use of vaccines against this disease also does not guarantee 100% protection. Unfortunately, the individual citizens vaccinated against COVID-19 subsequently died from complications caused by concomitant diseases. In a number of countries, there has been widespread opposition to the closure of enterprises and to the transfer of production in absentia, which has inevitably led to higher costs for entrepreneurs caused by the need to introduce new technologies overnight. In order to prevent general chaos and the increase in cases of legal nihilism, there is a need to transform the existing legal culture, taking into account the extraordinary circumstances caused by the global crisis. The ways and recommendations of adapting the legal mechanisms in force both in the world and in the Russian Federation to the consequences of coronavirus infection COVID-19 are presented in the publication presented.

Babel, a Neverending Story? Language and Fantasy Identities

"The end of the 19th century brought a major change in regards to humanity’s relationship with divinity and with the idea of creation. According to Friedrich Nietzsche, ‘God is dead’, so no one holds the supreme authority upon the creation act anymore. As a result, man himself began to create fictional worlds through logos, in order to fill the void left by the disappearance of divinity. Among the many methods that explain the generative process of these worlds there is the archetypal one from the Jungian psychology, the relational one from reader-response theories and the ‘chaotic’, theoretically objective one, based on hazard theories. Starting from here, this essay will try to analyze comparatively Michael Ende’s novel, The Neverending Story, and Jorge Luis Borges’ short story, The Library of Babel, with the purpose of exploring the contrast that is prefigured – at a structural, interpretive and text-reader relationship level – between the unconscious and the mechanical patterns of creating new worlds."

Functional democracy: An analysis of the key elements of a democratic system

This article debates democracy and the key elements of a democratic system. For this purpose, some of the internationally reputed authors and experts have been quoted. There is no universally accepted definition of democracy but most of the intellectuals and scholars are agreed that in democracy the supreme authority is vested in the hands of the people who exercise it through their elected representatives. The paper adopted qualitative, historical, and analytical method. The scholar has undergone an extensive study of available literature such as books, journals articles, newspapers and internet sources to make this study more commendable and get it become visible for the future scholars. The paper is based on qualitative study as it discusses facts for finding the truth. Democracy cannot flourish without certain necessary conditions. The focus of the paper is on the fundamental’s elements of democracy each of which is a basic condition for the success of democratic type of government everywhere.

An Analytical Review of the Influence of Regulatory and Supervisory Bodies on the Business of the Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) in Pakistan

Islamic financial market in Pakistan comprises Islamic banking, Takaful and Islamic capital market. It is regulated and supervised by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). Despite the regulatory and supervisory mechanism crafted by these authorities, there are other institutions such as the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), Federal Shariat Court (FSC) and international institutions such as the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) which intervene and influence the Islamic banking practices. Based on an analytical approach, the current study found an overlapping situation in the authority exercised by these bodies over the business of the IFIs in Pakistan. Hence, a distinctive regulatory authority based on an adequate legal foundation should be created to watch over the business of the IFIs in Pakistan. The supreme authority can be conferred to the Shariah Advisory Committee (SAC) of the SBP or to a separate body in the current judicial infrastructure of the country in order to overview, harmonize and resolve the issues related to the business of the IFIs.

Religiozno-­politicheskoe sostoyanie pribaltijskogo dvoryanstva v ocenke rossijskih vlastej: epizody iz istorii ostzejskogo voprosa (40—80-e gg. XVIII v.)

The article concentrates on the religious policy of the Russian Empire in the Early Modern Times. A study was carried out concerning the measures taken by the Russian supreme authority in the field of religion in the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire during the Russian-Sweden wars (1741-1743, 1788-1790). The base of research is unknown sources (unpublished documents, correspondence) from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire and the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. For the first time in historiography, the mutual relations of Baltic noble estate and the Russian crown were addressed in common context of two notable episodes from the regional social and political history - the persecution of the Moravian church under the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and the reform of protestant spiritual governance during the reign of Catherine II. It has been determined what was the relationship for the monarchy between events separated from each other by more than forty years, the reasons for the monarchy’s attention to the spiritual sphere in wartime were revealed. As a result, the author states that religion and religious institutions were means for Russian autocracy to keep and develop principles and ideas of political loyalty in Baltic-German noble community, and the actions of the Russian monarchy to maintain religious unanimity of the Ostseeischer nobility contributed to the formation of the estate consciousness of the latter.

Albania Between the Crisis of the Parliamentary Dialectic and the Dominant Role of the Government

The last years of Albanian parliamentary life were marked by a profound crisis. The parliament, not only had the task of managing a constitutional reform that brought the entire judicial system to its knees, transforming the vetting process into a reform with uncertain results, but also the political crisis, or rather the political-institutional stalemate for leaving the mandates of opposition parliamentarians.The failure to reach the quorum provided by the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, it raises considerable controversy over the legitimacy of the supreme authority and therefore on the legitimacy of institutions that depend on parliamentary votes, such as the election of constitutional judges. At the same time, when the "united opposition" left parliament, the new opposition was trying to keep up with parliamentary dialectics. Moreover, in recent years of parliamentary "identity crisis", the majority have resembled a "group of soldiers" under the command of the Prime Minister. Clearly, Parliament has weakened, lost its value, leading to a strengthening of the executive power, more precisely a strengthening of the figure of the head of government. Without a doubt, the crisis of Parliament translates into an inability of the people's representatives to solve the problems that are present in civil society. Consequently, the crisis of Parliament means a "silent people", a "mute people".The purpose of this document is the constitutional-philosophical analysis of historical memory of the role of Parliament in Albania from the Declaration of Independence to the present day. Perhaps historical memory is the key to reading the present and to better understand the crisis that Albanian Parliament has been going through in recent years.
 
 Received: 4 March 2021 / Accepted: 6 May 2021 / Published: 8 July 2021

The Changing Kazakh Literature From the Soviet Era to the Independence Period in Kazakhstan

Literature in the Soviet Union was an instrument to embed socialism and build Soviet society. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the supreme authority that shaped the literary process. During the Soviet era, especially after the establishment of the Soviet Writers' Union in 1934 and the determination of socialist realism as the primary art method of Soviet literature, literature was incurred entirely under the control of the Soviet ideology. A period has begun in which the authors produced works as “directed” by orders and instructions of the Soviet administration, instead of making literary production freely. Even though there were various historical breaks and relative moderation in the Soviet administration from time to time, this situation continued until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It is possible to entitle this period "national literature" period when looking at the ongoing process since 1991. The Kazakh literature works, which developed from 1991 to the present, dealt with Kazakh national, religious, and moral values damaged during the Soviet period and glorified those values, drew attention to them. It is seen that the issues which were impossible to mention or forbidden in the Soviet era and some historical truths were brought up. There is a permanent national rise in Kazakh literature from the first years of the independence period. It is observed that Kazakh national identity, which was repressed and tried to be erased during the Soviet era, is built upon the literature today. In this article, the literary process of Kazakh literature as experienced in the Soviet era and the Independence period has been discussed. The point where the Kazakh literature has come from the past to the present, has been put forward.

How the Justice Power Post Constitution Amendment? A Review Book "Politik Hukum Kekuasaan Kehakiman Pasca Amandemen Undang-Undang Dasar 1945", Ma'shum Ahmad, Total Media Yogyakarta, 2017, 193 pages, ISBN: 979-1519-25-0

This book examines and describes the relationship between the rule of law, legal politics, and the legal political configuration of judicial power, the functions and authorities of the Supreme Court, the functions and authorities of the Constitutional Court, the functions and authorities of the Judicial Commission. old, new and reform orders.

This scope of systemic security of the Republic of Poland

The Republic of Poland, like any other country, is exposed to a number of external and internal threats. The rapidly changing geopolitical situation as well as civilisational and technological development are creating new threats in the sphere of internal stability of a state, whose condition affects not only its institutions, but also its citizens and international relations. As we known, the concept of state includes the following three elements: a particular territory, the population living on that territory and a sovereign power (government) of supreme authority. Since systemic security is linked to the third of these elements, undoubtedly its preservation is important for the existence of the State

У ЧОМУ ПОЛЯГАЄ ВІДМІННІСТЬ МІЖ ТЕОРІЄЮ І ПРАКТИКОЮ ФІЗИЧНОГО ЕКСПЕРИМЕНТУ?

The article deals with the fact that in the philosophy of science it is considered that the compliance with a fact is not only necessary, but also sufficient for the acceptance of a scientific theory, because scientific theories are just a collection of data, moreover, their classifications and weak extrapolations. And if theoretical foresight comes into conflict with some empirical facts, then all the blame falls on the theory, and without any appeal, because the supreme authority is experiment. This point of view is not true methodologically and philosophically, as well as historically. Since the above task will be based on the content of historiosophical determinants, we will proceed to outline the internal connections of theory and experience, without rejecting the advantages of one of these poles. Each content line of a scientific theory is related to research and experimental work in at least three ways: verification of the existing theoretical facts under the real-existing reality, which is realized through the involvement of research tools (observation, measurement, and processing of results); involvement in the process of planning and further interpretation of data obtained in the process of observations, measurements, or experiments; application of available theoretical potential for practical purposes in such a way as to achieve certain changes regarding the previous state. To reveal the historiosophical depth of the above trio, it is necessary to reflect the significance of the first two cases through the prism of general methodological provisions, without resorting to the technical details of statistical conclusions and experimental ideas of the average researcher. Given such a range of activity variations, we can conclude that our theoretical prediction can directly “come into conflict” with fragmentary empirical facts. In this case, the representatives of prominent scientific circles are sure to accuse the unreliability and inadmissibility of the theory itself, and without the right to unsubstantiated appellate steps, as under such conditions, the only experience is the highest instance. The latter factuality is not justified today from both methodological and historiosophical points of view, which is proved by the list of the following facts. First, at the level of general physical practice, as a rule, facts that come into conflict with established theories are immediately rejected and do not fall under reflection. Second, the pure facts themselves reliable data, as they are produced and interpreted by drawing on the scientific potential of existing theories. Third, the vast majority of theories do not concern observations and measurements (not to mention in this case the facts of perception) of idealized models, but primarily real objects, which explains the proximity to real existence. Fourth, hypothetical assumptions that can be tested often mostly crystallize theoretically at the level of the conjunction of theory and additional predictions, as well as a volumetric block of informative data that differ from each other and serve as an informal “equivalent” for testing the proposed theory.

Non-arbitrariness, rule of law and the ‘margin of appreciation’: Comments on Andreas Follesdal

AbstractCan citizens’ interest in non-domination be satisfied by the principle of legality and the guarantee of non-arbitrariness? This comment argues that the rule of law requires an internal organization of law that entails an additional positive law, through conventions, common law, judicial precedents or constitutions, which the sovereign cannot legally override. In the supranational context, the rule of law requires an equilibrium of consideration and respect between different legalities by avoiding a legal monopoly of a supreme authority and fostering the interaction among orders based on content-dependent reasons. The same applies to the relations between the ECtHR and member states. The margin of appreciation, taken as a reminder of the complexities of international institutional relationships, embodies a non-domination caveat to consider (the reasons from) the ‘normativities’ of different orders. Nonetheless, as an argumentative tool of the Court, it allows for an often-disputed discretion. Accordingly, better refined guidelines and justifications are required.

Analytical study of Kala Sharir on the principles of histology

Background: Susrutha Samhita is the earliest treasure of anatomical concepts which illustrates the structures on both gross and microscopic levels. Susrutha has systematically described the process of dissection. This process of dissection gave a glimpse of all the body structures to Susrutha; which he dictated in further chapters of Sharir Sthana (a subunit related, especially with the description of anatomy) and other places wherever required. Several concepts are so unique to Susrutha that he is quoted as it in further hierarchal compendiums. Kala Sharir is one of such topics which despite the fact is being a miniscule structure, is described with supreme authority with location, enumeration, examples, and clinical utility. The exact efficacy of Gyan Chaksu (intellectual visualization) and Upmana Pramana (comparative tools) can be seen in the description of Kala Sharir, which after centuries and series of discoveries of the microscope has got its place in now days world as a separate entity of epithelium/tissue/membrane in histology, a subunit of anatomy. Objective: The objective was to study and analyze the structural entity and utility of Kala Sharir, in the illumination of the knowledge of contemporary histology. Data Source: Kala related literature from classical texts such as Susrutha Samhita, Ashtanga Sangraha, Ashtanga Hridaya, Bhavprakasha, and Sharangdhar Samhita. Histological texts of contemporary anatomy, journals, articles, internet material, and previous research papers related to these subjects. Review Methods: All the literature related to Kala Sharir is reviewed by comparing and analyzing the different meanings and thoughts of classical as well as contemporary authors. A separate analysis of commentaries on classical texts is done for better understanding. Results and Conclusion: The concept of Kala Sharir has here been studied analytically in the radiance of histology to understand its utility in clinics and understanding in contemporary view.

Social Construction of National Reality: Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong by Fu-Lai Tony Yu and Diana S. Kwan

Reviewed by: Social Construction of National Reality: Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong by Fu-Lai Tony Yu and Diana S. Kwan Norbert Francis Fu-Lai Tony Yu and Diana S. Kwan. Social Construction of National Reality: Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2020. 164 pp. $95.00 (cloth). The circumstances that Taiwan, Tibet, and Hong Kong face stemming from the conflict between the governing party of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the movement of citizens for, or in defense of, democracy is the theme of Social Construction of National Reality. While the conflict has many moving parts, a guiding argument that the authors present is that it is not only unequal but also one-sided. Following the introduction, an interesting time-frame shapes the discussion: while for Taiwan, Tibet, and Hong Kong the historical lens primarily focuses on the last 70 years, beginning in 1950, for China we begin with the first imperial dynasty over 2,200 years ago. The research report of Fu-Lai Tony Yu and Diana S. Kwan is an important contribution to this history. Future work will be able to encompass similar conditions encountered by populations that have been singled out for special treatment by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Chapters 1 and 2 outline the theoretical approach that the authors adopted so as to delimit the scope of their study, an emphasis on the sense of belonging to a lineage or emerging nationality as separate from that of others and people’s awareness of this inclusion and separation. Within this framework, for which entities might the concept of self-determination apply? Chapter 3 traces the more than 2,000 years of final consolidation, beginning with the Qin dynasty, of the traditional concept of a “grand unified China” guided by a single supreme authority and the “Great Han Mentality” (28) that its educational system strives to imprint within each successive generation. After a period of relative opening, the current supreme (or paramount) leader, in particular following the 2018 abolition of term limits, has again consolidated this tradition. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 outline how the peripheral or “surrounding neighbors” (29) of Taiwan, Tibet, and Hong Kong have resisted over the years the attempt imprint upon them acceptance of the “unified China” condition as defined today by the CCP. A critic of the framework that the authors propose in chapters 1 and 2—and apply to the specific problem of each region in chapters 3–6—may object that the factors of group identity and awareness (e.g., the degree to which Tibetans or Taiwanese also identify, if at all, as Chinese or to which residents of Hong Kong express a feeling of belonging to China) are secondary and that the estrangement from the center of a significant layer of the population follows from a more fundamental, material, source of conflict: the irreconcilable confrontation of one-party totalitarian rule and democratic governance/respect for pluralism (in one case among the three of juridically implemented contrast). Truth be told, the same objection occurred to this reviewer. Yu and Kwan might in fact agree with the observation, to then point out simply that the underlying fundamentals were not the object of investigation, being an aspect of the larger picture easily incorporated into a much longer book. A test of whether or not the authors’ framing leads to an erroneous intermediate analysis resides in the concluding chapter 7. In the conclusion, the three scenarios of conflict are brought together for a closer comparison that takes the objective conditions for achieving the alternative of self-determination as a starting point. The previous chapter on the antecedents of the Hong [End Page E-18] Kong democracy movement allows precisely for the most objective overall assessment because, as the authors make clear, in effect, none of the essential conditions apply to the Special Administrative Region. With a hypothetical pathway to political self-determination extending into the distant future (if ever it becomes a viable alternative), the prospects for the democratic movement in Hong Kong are then permanently and indelibly tied to its counterpart in...

Újévi köszöntő

This paper is a summary of the annual evaluations and forthcoming tasks by the heads of the Department of Land Administration and Geoinformation in the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Land Registration and Mapping in the Office of the Prime Minister, and the Hungarian Society of Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing. After the radical administrative changes in the sectorial management of surveying and mapping, one of the most important tasks – in addition to forming the operation of the new organizations – was to prepare the modification of laws regulating the operation of this sector in 2020 too. The forming of transparent and clear land ownership, including the completion of delivering the partial proportions in process within a reasonable time, the continuation of the programme of terminating the undivided common properties and the implementation of the e-real estate project are tasks that are of primary importance in the life of the supreme authorities in the new year. The activity of the Hungarian Society of Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing was greatly affected by the first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit Hungary too in 2020. The Society has, though with some delay, effectively moved its activity of realizing its objectives to the virtual space offered by the internet. The online conferences and corporate events bear witness to the success of this transformation. © 2021, Hungarian Society of Surveying, Mapping and Remote sensing. All rights reserved.