Topic 1

Introduction

Introduction

European Union (EU) member states discover and report cross-border fraud worth thousands of millions of euros every year, including the loss of at least 50 billion in Value Added Tax (VAT).[1] However, national measures to fight large-scale transnational financial crimes remain limited and unable to effectively protect the EU budget.

With seventeen days of competition, 102 sporting events, 2925 athletes, and 92 nations represented, the XXIII Winter Olympic Games (OG) in PyeongChang, South Korea, were likely to involve disputes. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) established two special divisions designed to address Olympic competitions, following the practice of previous editions of the OG. The “Ad Hoc Division” addresses sport-related disputes while the “Anti-doping Division” (CAS ADD) adjudicates doping claims.

On June 3, 2015, Catherine Samba-Panza, the then transitional president of the Central African Republic (CAR), promulgated organic law 15/003 establishing the Special Criminal Court (SCC).[1] A hybrid tribunal integrated into the Central African justice system, the SCC will employ international and national staff and apply a mix of Central African and international law.

Introduction

The consequences of the referendum on independence, held in Catalonia on October 1, 2017, have given rise to a broad debate and are still to be assessed in their entirety. In fact, the vote was just the last of a decade-long series of moves by the Catalan government and parliament, and counter-moves on the Spanish side,[1] putting the Spanish democracy and all of its branches of government under stress as never before in its recent history.

In recent years a number of European countries have prohibited women from publicly wearing veils that cover their faces.[1] The European Court of Human Rights (the ECtHR or the Court) recently found that Belgium’s veil ban did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention).[2]

Hybrid War as Strategy and Policy

The best way to boil a frog, the adage goes, is to turn the heat up slowly enough that the frog doesn’t realize it is being cooked. If the perpetrators hacked the stove’s software, denied their culpability, and bombarded bystanders with fake news before annexing the kitchen, one might have a workable analogy for hybrid warfare.

The first automatic exchanges of tax information took place in September 2017 and implementation will continue through 2018 based on Common Reporting Standards (CRS) among 102 countries and jurisdictions through the framework of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Forum).[1] The automatic exchange of information (AEOI) allows tax authorities to receive financial account information about their taxpayers from foreign authorities without having to send a specific request.