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• EDITORIAL BOARD 2022

CONTENT

• EDITORIAL BOARD 2022

EDITORIAL NOTE

• Ivana Krstić [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia ]

COVID-19 BETWEEN MEDICINE, LAW AND POLITICSEfforts to establish a coordinated international response to diseases that affect more than one country go back to the mid-19th century. Nowadays World Health Organization is the central point where the interests of 194 member states to preserve the health of their populations are convened, coordinated, and addressed. The critical concept that initiates an international reaction is a public health emergency of international concern, as exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of October 2022, it had claimed an estimated 20 million lives worldwide. Both in Serbia and elsewhere, the death toll greatly depended on the applied prevention and control measures, which included vaccination. Experiences gained so far point to preferable strategies that should be employed when humanity is confronted with the next similar challenge.

• Zoran Radovanović [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine, Serbia ]

THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEWThe aim of the article is to provide a general, broad picture of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, without going into the details. The impact of the pandemic on economic growth was sharp, with sudden and deep decline, followed by complete and swift recovery. Both the supply and the demand side contributed to this dynamic, based on the same factors (morbidity and mortality, behavioural adjustments of individuals, and government pandemic control measures), although with quite distinctive mechanisms of impact. It was the uncertainty of both the supply– and demand-side economic agents that was decisive for the sudden drop in the level of economic activity. Macroeconomic policies, both monetary (quantitative easing) and fiscal (budgetary deficits) proved timely and prevented a global depression. In the aftermath, the side effects of these policies are substantial inflation, increased basic interest rates to counter that inflation, increased sovereign debt, and its threatened sustainability.

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

THE WIDENING GAP BETWEEN PROCLAIMED GENDER EQUALITY AND REAL STATE OF AFFAIRS IN TIMES OF COVID-19 PANDEMICA premise of this article is that the existing gap between the advanced gender equality normative framework and the state of gender equality in real life has widened in times of crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic. The background theoretical-methodological framework is presented in the introduction. The first chapter presents progressive gender equality achievements in the normative and strategic international, European and national framework. The next chapter explains why all crises have been worsening gender (in)equality in real life and even within the scope of already achieved rights. The third chapter outlines the negative impacts of COVID-19 on gender equality and living conditions of women globally, in the EU and Serbia. The fourth chapter addresses how the COVID-19 pandemic could contribute to advancing gender equality. The conclusion sums up the main topics of analysis and considers challenges related to the pandemic’s possible positive impacts on gender equality.

• Dragica Vujadinović [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia ]

AVOIDING MANDATORY COVID-19 VACCINATION: ARROGANCE TOWARD SCIENCE AND LACK OF RESPECT FOR COMMON SENSEThis paper is a continuation of the research that the author started several years ago and which was published in the article Compulsory Vaccination of Children: Rights of Patients or Interests of Public Health? The emphasis will be on professional and scientific discussions on whether it is permissible to prescribe mandatory vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as whether this is in line with the Constitution and legally allowed for all or only for certain population categories in Serbia. Earlier decisions of the constitutional courts of Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia, as well as the recent judgment of the ECtHR in the Vavřička case will be reconsidered. All these decisions by the highest national courts, as well as the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, have unequivocally confirmed that mandatory vaccination is not contrary to some basic human rights regularly invoked by opponents of vaccination.

• Marija Draškić [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia ]

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE AVIATION INDUSTRY: AN OVERVIEW OF GLOBAL AND SOME LOCAL EFFECTS The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily paralysed demand for air travel causing long-term implications for all industry stakeholders involved. Nobody was spared, and without government support, many airlines, airports and air navigation service providers (ANSP), would have gone out of business already in the first year of the pandemic. In order to assess the global impact of COVID-19 on the aviation industry, this paper reviewed data from publications by various international aviation organizations, academic papers, and annual reports by airlines, airports and ANSPs, etc. The findings show that the global aviation industry was severely hit by the pandemic, pushing all stakeholders to adopt countermeasures, with the most common response by airlines being the reconfiguring their networks and capacity or switching to cargo operations, airports and other operators reacted by reducing staff numbers, while passengers had to adapt to the new travel rules and the new normality.

• Милица КАЛИЋ [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering ]
• Даница БАБИЋ [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering ]
• Славица ДОЖИЋ [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering ]
• Јована КУЉАНИН [ Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain ]
• Немања МИЈОВИЋ [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, Serbia ]

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT DURING THE PANDEMIC The protection and preservation of the environment and stable climatic conditions, as well as the right of public participation in environmental decision-making in public spaces, are emerging as topics of special significance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for integrated protection of natural goods of general interest, harmonization with the EU acquis, the need to simultaneously overcome the COVID-19 crisis and implement the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans raises numerous questions, some of them being: is environmental protection a priority during the pandemic and, if so, which aspects of environmental protection represent the primary concern; have the measures limiting public gatherings had an impact on public participation in decision-making; and, do the proposed legislative amendments and additions complete the environmental protection system, with clear criteria for an environmental impact assessment of the related activities and the decisions to support their pursuit?

• Мирјана ДРЕНОВАК ИВАНОВИЋ [ Правни факултет Универзитета у Београду ]

TAX TREATMENT OF FLEXIBLE FORMS OF WORK IN SERBIA IN LIGHT OF THE COVID-19 GLOBAL PANDEMICThe COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the development of flexible forms of work, those forms of work that have essentially been enabled by the development of modern technologies. In the case of flexible forms of work, evasion of taxes and, perhaps more importantly, contributions to compulsory social security are quite pervasive. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Serbian Tax Administration tried to collect taxes from persons who pursued flexible forms of work for employers or clients from abroad, which led to protests. Ultimately, the negotiations with the Serbian Government resulted in an agreement on transitional solutions, as well as future changes in the tax regulations. This paper aims to explain the essence of the problem that arises in Serbian tax law in connection with flexible forms of work, to analyze the proposed transitional solutions, as well as to offer some suggestions that could lead to longer-term solutions to this problem.

• Svetislav V. Kostić [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia, ]

ONLINE TEACHING – EDUCATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS OR EDUCATION OF THE FUTURE?The paper analyzes different aspects of online teaching as the prevalent method of education at the Belgrade University Faculty of Law during the COVID-19 pandemic. The starting assumption is that the combination of online and traditional teaching better meets the modern requirements of the labor market and better trains law students for different career paths and modern professions. Since digital technology has become an indispensable part of all spheres of law, we advocate the idea that an adapted form of online teaching develops young lawyers’ digital literacy. The paper draws on the results of a qualitative study, i.e., four focus group discussions with teachers at the Faculty of Law who conducted classes during the pandemic. Despite different personal affinities and experiences regarding online classes, the general opinion was that online teaching should become part of the teaching practice, with noticeable disparity regarding its intensity and implementation.

• Valerija Dabetić [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia, ]

MEASURES AGAINST THE PLAGUE AND OTHER CONTAGIOUS DISEASES IN SERBIA IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19th CENTURYThe paper provides an introduction covering the absence of measures against the plague and other contagious diseases in the Ottoman Empire, the measures practiced in the Austrian Empire, the terminology used for measures against the spreading of the disease in the Serbian language, etc. This is followed by a section that covers the plague during the First Serbian Uprising and the remembrance of its disastrous consequences. The central part of the paper focuses on the measures against cholera and the plague taken by the Principality of Serbia, starting the 1830s. Regulations modeled after the Austrian counterparts passed in 1839 and 1841, establishing a cordon sanitaire toward the Ottoman Empire.

• Zoran S. Mirković [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia, ]

Belleflamme, Paul, Martin Peitz. 2021. The Economics of Platforms: Concepts and Strategy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 256.

• Ana Odorović [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia, ]

Lӧhnig Martin, Masheva Ivelina (eds.). 2022. Commercial Law in Southeastern Europe – Legislation and Jurisdiction from Tanzimat Times until the Eve of the Great War. Vienna – Cologne: Bӧhlau Verlag, 135.

• Đorđe Stepić [ University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia, ]

Rubin, Miri. 2020. Cities of Strangers: Making Lives in Medieval Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, XV + 189.

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