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• Editorial board 2022

Table of Contents

• Editorial Board 2022

The Anatomy of Price Gouging: A Regulatory or Competition Law AntidoteUnlike other natural disasters, the coronavirus disease pandemic is global in character, which is why interest among researchers in the price gouging phenomenon is on the rise. Without disputing many solid arguments favouring the market mechanism, we will reconsider the goals and means of potential government intervention. One possibility lies in economic regulation, the other in competition law. In the first case, price ceilings are usually imposed for necessary goods, followed by rationing and export restrictions. On the other hand, competition policy focuses on preventing the exercise of temporary market power. We will try to show that market failures can provide specific arguments for regulation but relying on competition protection policy seems unjustified. Still, since the critical issue is defining excessive prices in the short run, we expect competition authorities to address this issue, considering that they are permanently monitoring various markets.

• Nikola Njegovan [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics, Serbia ]
• Bojan Ristić [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics, Serbia ]

A Few Thoughts about Competition Policy in Two-Sided MarketsThe paper reviews recent literature concerning two-sided markets or platforms. These markets are characterised by indirect externalities since the utility of users on one side of the market increases in the number of users on the other side of the market. There are many examples of two-sided markets, such as payment cards, newspapers, Internet advertising, search platforms for accommodations, software applications, etc. Competition policy has special features in two-sided markets, and the wisdom from standard markets may induce wrong decisions by competition authorities. Therefore, the paper discusses the definition of the relevant market in two-sided markets, when horizontal merger is beneficial to users, how predatory behaviour is defined, and other anti-competitive practices.

• Dejan Trifunović [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics, Serbia ]

Something is Rotten in the State of America: Product Market Competition Decline in the US?Based on available theoretical and empirical research, the paper demonstrates that although some decline in the product market price competition in the US has been observed, the non-price competition has become more intensive, therefore enhancing competitive constraints. Increased markups (although the magnitude of the change is disputed) are primarily due to investments in Research and Development and brand development, which have created a substantial increase in intangible assets and rise of fixed costs. In the environment of cost-heterogenous firms, markups are not necessarily evidence of market power, which should be associated only with negatively sloped residual demand curve. The declining share of labour in the value added and increasing income inequality cannot be explained by the ostensible decline of competition in the US product markets, but by technological progress and globalisation. Three vulnerabilities of the competition in the US are identified: killer acquisitions, common ownership, and legal barriers to entry..

• Boris Begović [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia ]

Desirability of Regulative Function of Judicial PowerThe article presents the follow–up to a previous article which expounds the thesis that in all developed legal systems court judgments can be sources of general rules and standards that will constraint the courts, as decision–makers, and then, consequently, other legal subjects, even if they are not formally recognized as sources of law. In this article, the normative reasons in favor of performing the regulative function of the judiciary are first presented, with the most important ones being predictability and equality. It is then shown in which direction the regulative function could be performed by the judicial power of a typical continental system, if the judiciary, as a whole, accepts to perform it.

• Goran Dajović [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia ]

Hutman of Serbian Medieval LawThe subject of the paper is the institute of hutman in Serbian medieval mining law. The first question to be answered is related to the extent of transplantation of the institute from Saxon customs to Serbian written law. The second aim is the definition of the competence of hutman and the way he was appointed. The results indicate the Despot Stefan’s Mining Code recognized two different institutes of hutman. The first was auxiliary service to urbarar, measuring and marking the land in the procedure of granting mining concessions and after breaking one mine into another, charging a fee. He was probably appointed by tax collectors. The second one is the supervisor of a mine, entitled to collect the payment from the owners of its shares, to record it and presumably to take care of correct conducting all kind of activities in the mine. Most likely he was employed by the shareholders of the mine partnership. The linguistic, systemic, and historical interpretation is applied as well as the comparative method and regressive analysis.

• Andreja Katančević [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia ]

Elections for the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Held on May 5, 1935 The paper analyzes the political situation in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia that preceded the elections for the National Assembly held on May 5, 1935, as well as the results of those elections. Based on available historical sources, the author provides exact data on the election results and analyzes the broader context in which political parties operated. Based on the conducted research, the author concludes that the leadership of the united opposition in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, democratic without a doubt, did not understand its task and role in building democracy.

• Katarina Rašić Mihajlović [ Historian (retired), Serbia ]

Virtual Litigation HearingsIn a paper dealing with the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic to the litigation proceeding, the author analyses the institution of remote hearings in the Republic of Serbia. A critical reflection was given to the current Law on Civil Litigation and its provisions on presenting evidence from a distance. Afterwards, suggestions were provided for changing and amending these provisions. Several ways for regulating distant hearings were analysed to form the elements of the future norm. When it comes to the actual issue of harmonising the proceeding with the society’s technological advancements, there is scepticism in the expertly public on how to harmonise this institution with the principles of litigation proceedings and the right to the fair trial. The author analysed arrangements from the comparative law and the ECHR practice to reach a conclusion on harmonising remote hearings with the principles of litigation proceedings and the right to a fair trial.

• Branka Babović Vuksanović [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia ]

Nihil Obstat – Medieval Roaming оf Higher Education in SerbiaThis work is an assessment of three topics considered in Dušan Rakitić’s article (Anali 1/2022). All three are relevant for the discussion of the disputed issue of the Holy Synod’s blessings for the appointment of theology professors at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Orthodox Theology: (a) legislation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; (b) the provisions of the 2006 Serbian Law on Churches and Religious Communities; (c) the constitutional principle of the cooperative separation of church and state in the Constitution of Serbia. Furthermore, the 2021 Law on Amendments to the Law on Higher Education is not in compliance with the Constitution of Serbia regarding the provisions implying the consent of church bodies for enrollment of students, employment and loss of appointment pertinent to the Faculty of Orthodox Theology.

• Milan Vukomanović [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy, Serbia ]

Legal Aspects in Mauritius of Medical Procedures Performed AbroadThere are several medical procedures that may be undergone by Mauritian citizens abroad where no harm is suffered by a patient, and yet, important legal questions may stem from them. The main examples of it are surrogacy medical procedures and medically assisted reproduction procedures performed abroad on a Mauritian citizen. The legal aspects of those types of medical procedures performed abroad, which could one day become legal issues before the Mauritian Supreme Court are analyzed in this paper.

• Goran Georgijević [ Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius, Mauritius ]

Collin, Peter (Hrsg.) 2021. Konfliktlösung im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Handbuch zu Geschichte der Konfliktlösung in Europa, Band 4 (GHrsg. David von Mayenburg). Berlin: Springer, XXXVI + 738.

• Nina Kršljanin [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia ]

Mulder, Nicholas. 2022. The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 614.

• Boris Begović [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia ]

Devlin, Alan J. 2021. Reforming Antitrust. Cambridge, the United Kingdom and New York, United States: Cambridge University Press, 330.

• Nikola Ilić [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia ]