Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Law & Jurisprudence

Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI)

Public authorities identify Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) as being important to citizens. These services are not supplied by market forces alone and may require public intervention.

Main Elements of SGEI

• Act of entrustment: Formal designation of a service provider for the SGEI.
• Public service obligation: The provider must carry out the service in the public interest under conditions defined by the State.
• Public service compensation: Financial support to offset the additional costs stemming from the public service obligation.

Why are SGEIs Important?

SGEIs can alter the market mechanism and be a source of distortion unless properly targeted. They pose a threat to competitive neutrality. Controls... Continue reading "Understanding Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) and EU Financial Supervision" »

Athens and Sparta were the most important polis.

Athens: A New Political System

A new political system was established in Athens: a democracy or government by the people.

Institutions

• The Assembly: A meeting of the citizens where matters of interest were discussed and magistrates were appointed. Women, metics, and slaves were excluded.
• Boule: Their role was to draft the laws debated in the assembly and supervise the judges. Members were chosen by drawing lots.
• Judges: They applied the decisions made by the assembly. Appointed by the assembly for a year. Some were strategists, archons, and others were treasures who managed the resources.
• Supreme Courts: Their role was to deliver justice. Members were also chosen by drawing lots.

Sparta: An Oligarchy

Sparta... Continue reading "The Classical Age: The Golden Age of Greek Civilization" »

Obligations and Contracts in the Hospitality Industry

Introduction

Transactions drive market trade, with individuals, private companies, and public entities engaging in contracts and performing transactions. A market is essentially an exchange of relationships governed by rules. Most obligations in civil law stem from contracts, although some, like parental responsibilities, do not.

Key Concepts

Power and Parties

Individuals have the power to compel others to fulfill obligations (e.g., a hotel guest must pay for their stay). Every obligatory relationship involves two legal entities, not necessarily individuals.

Intuitu Personae

This refers to situations where a specific person's skills are required, such as a surgeon or a Michelin-star chef.

Obligation

Financial and E-commerce Terms

Banking and Finance

• Accept: To agree to receive or undertake something offered.
• Annuity: A fixed sum of money paid to someone each year, typically for the rest of their life.
• Appraisal: An expert estimate of the value of something.
• Arrangement Fee: A fee charged by a lender to cover the administrative costs of setting up a loan.
• ATM (Automated Teller Machine): A machine that dispenses cash or performs other banking services when an account holder inserts a bank card.
• Bank Wire: An electronic transfer of funds.
• Beneficiary: A person who derives advantage from something, especially a trust, will, or life insurance policy.
• Borrow: To take and use (something belonging to someone else) with the intention of returning it.
• Branch:

Due Diligence

Property Verification

• Concordance between the property description in the Land Registry and the physical reality.
• Verification of charges and encumbrances on the property in the Land Registry (mortgages, usufructs, easements, seizure notes, etc.).
• Confirmation that the property is free of tenants or occupants.
• Review of the Community of Owners' agreements.
• Verification of no administrative infringements or penalty procedures.

Documentation

• Public deed of property ownership and registration.
• Certificates/Single Notes from the Land Registry to verify title, charges, and encumbrances.
• Cadastral Value.
• Receipt of I.B.I. (Property Tax) for the last fiscal year.
• Documents proving payment of the Property Tax (IBI) and the Rubbish Tax (Tasa de basura)

Primary Victim

• Alcock, Lord Oliver: Those involved in traumatic events.
• McFarlane v E.E Caledonia: Piper Alpha Oil Rig disaster.
• Page v Smith: Test today. Claimants with recurring disease due to an accident.

Held: Successful, showed physical injury or danger of physical injury, and reasonable belief of being in danger (reasonable foreseeability of psychiatric injury not taken into account). Affirmed: Simmons v British Steel.

White: Foreseeability of psychiatric injury no longer needs to be proven.

Secondary Victim

1. Reasonably Foreseeability (old law, still using): McLoughlin, Alcock
2. Sudden Shock: Sudden sight or sound that violently triggered the mind.
3. Proximity
   • (a) Relationship: Tie of love and attraction.
   • (b) To the incident: Closeness in time and space

The ESMA Case: Powers of EU Agencies

ESMA Case

Problems with EU agencies include a lack of democratic legitimacy and the fact that they do not have normative powers. (The two sources of democratic legitimacy are the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, together with the European Council.) The EU still needs agencies because of the level of expertise required.

Facts

• The "ESMA Regulation" gave powers to ESMA to “prohibit some financial activities that threaten the financial markets or the stability.”
• Later, “the Regulation” further increased powers – Article 28 of the Regulation allowed ESMA to intervene with short sale transactions if it thinks that there is a threat to the functioning and stability of a financial market or the

As first evidence, the government put into work the Emergency Banking Relief Act. It assigned government agents to examine and survey the bank’s financial conditions. Furthermore, it issued certificates to those who were safe for the people to put their money in. In that way, the program as a product of the New Deal came to restore confidence in the people.

As second evidence, in addition to banks, the government passed regulations for the stock market through the Securities Act. It prevented stock selling companies from mishandling the truth by requiring them to provide accurate information to their clientele. Soon after, the government created the regulating Securities and Exchange Commission in order to prevent stock markets from committing... Continue reading "The New Deal: Evidence of Government Intervention and Reforms" »

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 Supreme Court case that ruled that "separate but equal".

Young Men's Christian Association

Organization that promoted muscular Christianity, combining evangelism with athletic facilities.

Negro Leagues

All-African American professional baseball teams.

Sierra Club

Organization that preserved and enjoyed America's great mountains and wilderness environments.

National Park Service

Agency that provided oversight of the growing system of national parks.

Comstock Act

Law that prohibited circulation of "obscene literature" defined as including most information about sex and birth control.

Liberal Arts

Form of education where students chose from a range of electives, shaping their own curriculum.

Atlanta Compromise

Urged whites and African... Continue reading "Important Historical Terms and Organizations" »

GRAMATICA