The arrival of 1 January 2023 marked not only the start of a new year, but also the dawn of a new decade for the Czech Republic. Throughout 2023, the country celebrated three decades of sovereignty, freedom, and democracy - an achievement unparalleled in modern Czech history.
By the end of February 2023 Supreme Administrative court (SAC) cancelled a part of a judgement of the Regional court in Prague regarding Greenhouse gas emissions. According to SAC excessive proactivity of courts is not appropriate in the current situation. Special climate law has not yet been enacted in Czech Republic.
Senate elections were held at the end of September 2022, which means that one third of the Parliament’s upper house was to be replaced. Which party is left with only one mandate even though it enjoyed a majority in the Senate just twelve years ago? And can defamation against a candidate lead to the nullity of elections?
At the end of July, a Summer School of Criminal Law, organised by Babes-Bolyai University Law Faculty students, took place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, which I also attended. The school hosted students from many European countries, including Germany, Lithuania, and Italy. Although the academic program was intense, the organizers also prepared a rich social program for the participants, allowing us to get to know Romania.
In 2020, the "Nth room" case, a significant criminal investigation in South Korea involving blackmail, cybersex trafficking, and the distribution of sexually exploitative videos via the Telegram app, caused considerable concern within the country. Currently, South Korea is facing a new challenge in the form of digital sex crime, which involves the creation and distribution of illegal pornographic videos using deepfake technology.
Thirty years ago, Rwanda experienced the 100-day-long genocide which resulted in several hundreds of thousands of deaths and destruction of the country. Since then, Rwanda has become one of the most developed states in Africa and has often been praised for its successful reconciliation process. However, all of this was done under the dominance of one single man, Paul Kagame, and has been done with increasing repression of any opposition to the regime run by the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which he leads. What does their landslide victory in the latest presidential and parliamentary elections foreshadow for the future of Rwanda?
In the last elections held in early June, Mexico elected a woman as its president. Claudia Sheinbaum became the first female president in the history of Mexico and the 136th elected or appointed female head of state or head of government in worldwide history. Whilst gender stereotypes are being challenged and the diverse representation of women is becoming more evident, there is still a need for more progressive mindsets and inclusive behavior around the world.
