Data Localization, International Law Perspective
Data protection, data localization, data flow, international trade law, trade barriers, WTO panels
Although the core principles of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) can extend the agreement to the movement of data, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of GATS in the digital age, there is very little to prevent governments from implementing wide data localisation measures, as GATS provides broad exceptions that create leeway for circumventing these obligations. Additionally, the ambiguity surrounding internet technology has given governments more justification. After all, how could anyone challenge these policies when technology and intelligent services themselves were once incapable of detecting what Edward Snowden later exposed? In response to these uncertainties, and the existing security exceptions in GATS, countries continue to invent new data localisation measures through different approaches. China forbids data transfers by default, only allowing them as exceptions, and emphasises national security with ambiguous discretionary limits. The GDPR limits transfers from outside the EU in order to balance privacy and trade but provides exceptions. The USA, without a unified federal legislative framework, has focused localization on areas such as taxation and defence, motivated mostly by national security. Given these dynamics, and the sensitivity of national security, the author argues that greater emphasis should be placed on reactivating the role of WTO panels and, at the very least, establishing broad boundaries for what constitutes security, even if the concept itself is difficult to define precisely.
ALI, SHAREEF SANAR
Coronation and Constitution in the United Kingdom
Coronation ceremony, unwritten constitution, United Kingdom, King Charles III
The paper establishes a link between the unwritten constitution of the United Kingdom and the significance of the most recent lavish coronation ceremony of King Charles III. For this purpose, it briefly introduces the unwritten constitution of the United Kingdom, as well as its historical development and its role in maintaining the constitutional relevance of the royal coronation ceremony in the UK. It provides a detailed description of the most recent British coronation on May 6, 2023, with King Charles III and Queen Camilla, to highlight the religious and constitutional elements that are intertwined in this power-legitimizing event. In the concluding remarks, the author refers to comparable European monarchies and their lack of coronation ceremonies in order to further support the argument that the coronation ceremony is of constitutional importance in a country that has no written constitution.
BEKE-MARTOS, JUDIT
Nation Branding in the Decade of Crises – Italy
Crisis, Italy, nation branding, public diplomacy, soft power
Italy, as most countries in the world, has been facing a long period of crises which has brought unprecedented challenges. Italian politicians and scientists interpret this period as the so-called “decade of crises” (2015–2024), starting with the migration crisis of 2015, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the escalation of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. These challenges have been generating health, financial and social crises and have profoundly affected our lives and our habits. The new challenges also influenced political leadership, and national governments and international organisations had to react to situations without precedent.
The new situation caused by the different crises forced nations to rethink the strategies, priorities and instruments they use for nation branding and public diplomacy. In this new and increasingly competitive and interconnected world, nation branding has become a crucial way to promote a country in a period when nation states have more need than ever to be assessed positively.
The research analyses how Italy has adjusted its policies, strategies and institutional system responsible for nation branding accordingly in this new and sometimes very conflictual and controversial context. The research examines primary sources, the relevant legislation, strategies, programmes and the institutional structure responsible for their implementation, and uses interviews with senior officials to assess the efficiency of the government's response to crises, the results of the introduced integrated approach and “shared” governance. The analysis of the efficiency will be completed by analysing the evolution of Italy's position in international rankings, assessing whether the measures introduced during the crisis period have had a measurable positive impact.
TANÁCS-MANDÁK, FANNI
Impact of the Sustainable Development Paradigm on the Self-Reliance of Local Government in Poland
Sustainable development, philosophy, critical theory, democratization, autonomy, decentralization
The article aims to determine the impact of sustainable development on the self-reliance of local self-government in Poland. A thorough analysis of the historiographic evolution and philosophical foundations of sustainability, together with a review of its legal sources, indicates that sustainable development – implemented through the concept of governance – conflicts with the foundational values of Latin civilization and exerts a negative influence on local self-government in Poland. The article argues that the development of the decentralisation of public authority, which is highly desirable from the perspective of democratisation, is being inhibited, and that the financial autonomy of local government is not being expanded.
ZAWADZKA-PĄK, URSZULA KINGA
Current issue
