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The OECD Model Tax Convention contains a beneficial owner requirement for the taxation of dividend, interest and royalty income. The purpose of the requirement is to prevent improper use of tax treaties, and consequently counteract abusive treaty shopping structures that aim at gaining tax treaty benefits that would not otherwise be achievable. As the beneficial owner requirement is included in the OECD Model Tax Convention, it is consequently included in tax treaties that are concluded by Member States of the European Union. From the perspective of the EU law, the requirement may, however, constitute as a restriction on free movement. As there is not significant harmonization of direct taxation within the European Union, nationals of Member States are able to use the different tax systems of different Member States to minimize their tax burden by exercising the freedom of establishment. The structures that make use of the disparities in the national tax systems of Member States can be view as abusive on national level, but they may be protected by the fundamental freedoms that the EU treaties provide for. Therefore, anti-abusive legislation that a Member State has introduced may create a restriction on free movement. The freedom of establishment ensures that a national of a Member States has the right to move freely within the EU without being subject to excessive measures, which are not applied in purely domestic but comparable situations. This gives an EU national the possibility to choose to establish an entity in a Member State where the taxation of dividend, interest and royalty income on source is most favourable for the tax payer. However, in order to invoke the freedom of establishment, the company in question must pursuit effective and genuine economic activities in the state of establishment. This thesis examines whether the structures that are used by Member State nationals to gain tax treaty benefits are protected by the EU law, and if the application of the beneficial ownership concept that is included in the tax treaties that are concluded between different Member States, is in fact against EU law, and particularly against the freedom of establishment. Furthermore, the thesis examines the potential justifications for the restriction that the beneficial ownership requirement might create on the freedom of establishment. The thesis aims to conclude how the beneficial ownership provisions in tax treaties should be interpreted so that the interpretation is essentially in compliance with EU law. When examining the case law of the European Court of Justice, it seems evident that the beneficial owner requirement can create a restriction on the freedom of establishment. Nevertheless, this restriction may be justified, to some extent, by the necessity to prevent tax avoidance. The European Court of Justice has developed in its practice a doctrine of abuse, under which the Member States are allowed to introduce national anti-abuse legislation to counteract tax avoidance. It is established in the case law of the European Court of Justice that while national anti-abusive legislation may create a restriction on the freedom of establishment, the restriction may be justified on the grounds of prevention of abusive practices. The national anti-abusive legislation must be, however, designed exclusively to prevent the use of wholly artificial arrangements, and therefore establishments that entail effective and genuine economic activities cannot be excluded from obtaining tax treaty benefits. Consequently, the beneficial owner requirement must be applied in such manner that it only excludes purely artificial arrangement from attaining the benefits of a tax treaty.

The thesis is a comparative study of capital systems and protection of creditors. This comparative study was conducted on legal systems of two Member States of the European Union – the Slovak Republic and Finland. Difference between the capital system of these two countries is so extensive, that it makes a perfect ground for comparative problem oriented study of creditor protection. My goal was not to analyse the capital doctrine under the Capital Directive as (i) the minimum legal capital rules are negligible if we are taking into consideration substantial companies, (ii) if the company falls into insolvency the minimum legal capital will definitely not fulfil the claims of creditors and (iii) this legal capital is not locked on a separate bank account as it is possible to use it for the business after incorporation of the company. Thus, my analysis was focusing on the structure of capital systems of these two countries – the Slovak Republic having the traditional capital system with nominal value of shares and Finland, which introduced a capital system with shares without nominal value in 2006. Finnish reform of company law in 2006 circumvented the traditional capital system with shares with nominal value, as the legislator used the concept of accountable par under Article 8 of the Capital Directive in a unique way. This reform restructured the concept of capital system in Europe with a direct impact on the level of creditor protection. Hypothesis of the study was formulated as following: Capital system with shares without nominal value that allows flexible allocation of equity and distribution, and efficiently maintains the solvency of the company is the key element of the creditor protection as it mitigates the conflict of interests between shareholders (by allocating the equity flexibly) and creditors (by keeping the company solvent). These are the following research questions, which were discussed in the thesis: (i) Why do creditors need to be protected?, (ii) How can creditors be harmed by shareholders?, (iii) What kind of protection is provided to creditors through different capital systems?, (iv) Is there any correlation between capital systems and level of creditor protection? Thesis consists of eight chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the thesis, which stipulates the topic and the research questions of the thesis. Moreover, this chapter deals with the scope of the thesis, theoretical framework, methodology of the thesis and importance of the research. Chapter 2 of the thesis elaborates the research question “Why should corporate law deal with creditor protection?” This chapter elaborates the specificities of the agency problem between creditors and shareholders. Moreover, this chapter analyses the reduction of agency problems via covenants and especially imperfections and drawbacks of covenants. Chapter 3 of the thesis deals with the capital systems in the European Union under the Capital Directive. This chapter elaborates the issue of capital system on these two main notions: price of shares and equity. These notions are analysed under the light of concepts of restricted and unrestricted equity in both of the capital systems – capital system with nominal value of shares and capital systems with shares without nominal value. Chapter 4 of the thesis deals with the regulation of the legal capital, especially formation of legal capital and minimum amount of capital. This chapter serves as a quick excursus into the main concepts of legal capital doctrine under the Capital Directive. Chapter 5 of the thesis analyses the distribution of assets from the company. It focuses mainly on the mechanisms of distribution of restricted and unrestricted equity under the both capital systems. Moreover, this chapter deals with a disguised distribution of assets, which is harmful for creditor. Chapter 6 examines the rules regulating the maintenance of the capital, especially the balance sheet test and solvency test. Additionally, rules on specific protection of creditors, when restricted equity is distributed, are examined as well as actions in a serious loss of capital. Chapter 7 elaborates the unlawful distribution of assets and its consequences. This chapter focuses on the liability issues in connection with unlawful distribution of assets from the company. Liability concepts are crucial for well functioning creditor protection within the capital system. Chapter 8 stipulates conclusions of the conducted research. First of all, the main outcome of my research is that the unique application of the accountable par concept under the FLLCA offers a flexible allocation of equity. Secondly, distribution of assets from the company is connected under the FLLCA with solvency test. This test secures the basic interest of creditors – keeping the company solvent. Moreover, this test is directly linked to strong liability consequences, which makes it an effective tool. Thirdly, due to flexible allocation of equity (which favours the shareholders) and keeping the company solvent (which favours the creditors) agency problem between shareholders and creditors is effectively mitigated.

The thesis examines the features of the EU legal system produce competence creep. The method of the thesis is theoretical, and the research question is reflected through theories of EU legal system and constitutionalism. In the thesis three main qualities of EU legal system is considered that are essential for the understanding of competence creep: inter-legality, constitutionalization of policy objectives and incremental constitutional change. Inter-legality means that the EU doesn’t conform to the systematic view of legal orders. Instead, it is an incomplete legal order that is in constant interaction with and dependent on the legal orders of the Member States. Inter-legality also informs the discourse and conflict in EU constitutionalism. Because of the limited competences the EU policy objectives are constitutionalized. This produces purposiveness of EU powers, which means the powers are delimited to pursue certain goals. In the EU constitutionalism the economic constitution has primacy over other policy fields, which means that the economic goals have pronounced role in the EU actions and integration. Both inter-legality and purposiveness informs the constant incremental change in EU legal system. The flexibility of EU legal system is needed in order to facilitate the discourse and conflict in pluralistic legal system. Moreover, the incompleteness of EU legal system means that it doesn’t have its own developed and independent deeper structure of the law, or formal, constitution. Consequently, besides the material constitution of the EU – the Treaties – there is the empirical and often invisible constitution that is constantly evolving through legal practices. The competences in the Treaties are formulated categorically, which doesn’t reflect the interdependence of policy fields. Moreover, the legal principles that relate to the exercise of the competences tend to be interpreted in a way that supports integration and the primacy of the economic constitution. Consequently, the division of competences in the Treaties doesn’t reflect the dynamism of the EU competences, nor the current state of evolving practices and ‘living’ constitution. Mechanisms of competence creep can be seen as illustration of the incremental constitutional change in purposive legal system. Moreover, the EU has went through constitutionally significant changes in response to crises. The crises responses have further induced questions on what normal constitutional variation is, and whether competence creep erodes institutional balance and the rule of law requirements in the EU.

This study discusses the competition law concerns arising in context of technology standardisation agreements, in the field of information communication technology in specific. It is possible to promote interoperability of technologies through standardisation agreements, which is especially significant in the field of information communication technology. The risk of anticompetitive collusion increases when undertakings co-operate. Anticompetitive collusion is prohibited under the Article 101 TFEU. There are however even more significant competition law risks in the context of standardisation agreements specifically related to intellectual property rights, namely the patent ambush. Patent ambush has been considered to be an abuse of a dominant position, regulated under the Article 102 TFEU. The dynamics of competition is distorted when technologies protected by proprietary rights are adopted as industry standards. Distributors and manufacturers have to acquire a license from the right holder in order to operate on the market. Proprietary right might constitute a significant barrier to enter the market if access to the essential patent is being prevented by refusal to license or prohibitive royalty rates. The competition law Articles have not been completely adequate to catch the patent ambush as the application of Article 102 TFEU requires the existence of dominance. It is not however completely certain whether the dominant position can be derived by the virtue of the standard essential patent. In addition to the competition law articles in the Treaty, in 2010 the Commission adopted Guidelines on the application of Article 101 to Horizontal Co-operation Agreements, whereby it pursues to provide framework of guidance to the operation of standardisation organisations in order to avoid competition concerns. To this end the Guidelines provide a self-assessment framework for the organisations. The Guidelines recommend adoption of IPR policies to improve the possibilities of receiving information concerning standard-essential patents and FRAND licensing terms. The Guidelines is a so called soft law instrument, with recommendatory effect. The possibility of binding legal effects of the recommendatory instrument will be assessed. In specific the relationship between the soft law instrument and the self-regulatory mechanisms of standardisation organisations will be considered. The research question of this work is how efficiently is it possible for this current regulation to control the problems of patent ambush related to the opportunism of right holders whereby the dominant position is abused in the context of standardisation agreements. Within this analysis the contributions of stakeholders submitted in the Public Consultation round organised by the Commission will be assessed as the expectation of the subjects of legislation, which have been clearly out-stated in the Public Consultation round organised by the Commission prior to adoption of the Guidelines. Also the policy goals stated by Commission itself will be assessed. The realization of the expectations of the stakeholders as well as the policy goals named by Commission will be assessed in the light of the recent case law. When considering the effectiveness of the regulation it is necessary to take into account the need to maintain a balance between the protection of the effective competition while protecting the interests of the right holders. The protection of intellectual property rights has been considered important in the promotion of innovation and technological development. There is a great amount of legal literature discussing the possible future legislative conduct in order to control the problems related to opportunism of right holders. The suggestions vary from limitation of availability of injunctive relief to the total abolition of the exclusivity of patents and from allowing the SSOs to organise negotiations of licensing terms to direct application of unilateral conduct liability. This work gathers together and compares the suggestions assessing their possibilities to provide the right balance between protection of the interest of right holders while maintaining the effective competition. In the assessment a special consideration, that has to be borne in mind is that standardisation organisations cannot impose their members with burdensome obligations. Furthermore their possibilities to sanction the member from breaching the rules are limited as standardisation is, by definition, a form of voluntary co-operation of undertakings. It is also necessary to note that IPR policies of SSOs only reach their members. These factors have to be taken into consideration in order to find the balanced solution to regulate the patent ambush problem.

Ilmiö joukkoviestintämarkkinoiden keskittymisestä ja uusien teknologien aiheuttamista muutoksista media-alalle on maailmanlaajuinen; osa mediataloista on lakkauttanut toimintansa kokonaan, kun taas osa yrityksistä on myyty suuremmille kilpailijoille tai muille alan toimijoille. Tämä on johtanut suurien, eri aloilla toimivien monialayritysten syntymiseen ja vähentänyt markkinoilla toimivia yrityksiä. Kehitys on havaittavissa myös Suomessa: esimerkiksi vuonna 2016 päivälehtiä oli 30 vähemmän kuin kymmenen vuotta aikaisemmin. Maaliskuussa 2020 sanomalehtien keskittymiskehitys kulminoitui, kun Sanoma Oyj osti Alma Media Oyj:n paikallislehdet, mikä herätti julkista keskustelua siitä, uhkaako yrityskauppa Suomen median monimuotoisuutta. Kilpailu- ja kuluttajavirasto kuitenkin (KKV) jätti kysymykset median monimuotoisuudesta huomioimatta vedoten kilpailulain asettamien toimivaltarajojen lisäksi Euroopan komission viimeaikaiseen tapauskäytäntöön, jossa kysymyksiä yrityskauppojen vaikutuksista median monimuotoisuudelle pidetään kilpailuoikeuden alaan kuulumattomina. Tämä opinnäytetyö tutkii Euroopan unionin (EU) kilpailuoikeuden suhdetta median monimuotoisuuteen liittyviin kysymyksiin. Tutkimus osoittaa, että vaikka komission viimeaikainen tapauskäytäntö on keskittynyt yrityskauppojen taloudellisiin vaikutuksiin – antaen painoarvoa erityisesti hintakilpailulle – komissio on aikaisemmin antanut painoarvoa myös median monimuotoisuutta käsitteleville seikoille. Koska EU:lla ei ole toimivaltaa antaa kulttuurialaan liittyviä säännöksiä, on ensisijainen vastuu median monimuotoisuuden suojelusta kuitenkin jäsenvaltioilla. Kun huomioon otetaan kilpailusääntöjen joustavuus ja monimuotoisen median merkitys demokratialle, joka on yksi EU:n perusarvoista, tukee teleologinen laintulkinta kuitenkin myös median monimuotoisuusnäkökulmien huomioonottamista myös kilpailuanalyysissä. Lisäksi EU:n kilpailusäännöissä huomioidaan hinnan olevan vain yksi kilpailuparametreistä mm. tuotteen laadun ohella. Tämä puolestaan mahdollistaisi sen arvioimisen, heikentääkö yrityskauppa mediamarkkinoilla olevien tuotteiden laatua. Opinnäytetyö ottaa myös kantaa laajempaan keskusteluun siitä, tulisiko niin kutsuttuun yleiseen etuun (public interest) liittyviä kysymyksiä käsitellä kilpailuoikeudellisessa analyysissä. Keskeinen argumentti on, että vaikka nykyinen, vahvasti hintakilpailuun perustuva analyysi ei palvele kuluttajia parhaalla mahdollisella tavalla, ei kilpailuoikeutta ole tarkoituksenmukaista käyttää ensisijaisena keinona median monimuotoisuuden suojelussa. Kilpailuoikeuden vallalla olevia menetelmiä ja käytäntöjä olisi kuitenkin suotavaa uudistaa siten, että ne ottavat jokaisen markkinan erityispiirteet huomioon. Media-alalla tämä tarkoittaa esimerkiksi sen huomioimista, ettei hinta ole keskeinen kuluttajaa ohjaava tekijä. Tämä tukisi mahdollisesti myös median monimuotoisuuden säilymistä ja palvelisi kuluttajien hyvinvointia nykyistä staattista analyysiä paremmin. Media-ala tarvitsee kuitenkin säilyäkseen tuekseen myös erityislainsäädäntöä, mikä on kilpailuoikeutta tarkoituksenmukaisempi keino vastata median monimuotoisuutta koskeviin uhkiin, vaikka kilpailuoikeutta voidaan käyttää erityislainsäädännön tukena.

Tuottamuksellinen toiminta ilmentää moitittavaa riskinottoa ja rikkoo toimijalle asetettavaa huolellisuusvaatimusta. Yrityksen vahingonkorvausvastuun perusteena voi olla sen johtoon kuuluvan henkilön tai työntekijän tuottamus. Oikeushenkilön vastuun yhteydessä voidaan puhua myös kumuloidusta ja anonyymistä tuottamuksesta, joista erityisesti kumuloitu tuottamus ottaa huomioon kaikkien osapuolten ja tekijöiden yhteisvaikutuksen. Yritys voi pyrkiä kontrolloimaan vahingonkorvausvastuuriskiä monella eri tavalla, kuten sopimusehdoin ja vastuuvakuutuksella. Compliance-toiminta on kokonaisvaltaista riskienhallintaa, jolla pyritään siihen, että yrityksen toiminta vastaa siihen kohdistuvan oikeudellisen sääntelyn ja sidosryhmien asettamia velvoitteita. Asianmukaisella compliance-ohjelmalla voidaan pyrkiä sekä ehkäisemään riskien realisoitumista että lieventämään tai poistamaan toiminnasta mahdollisesti aiheutuneita seuraamuksia. Ohjelma voidaan laatia esimerkiksi kilpailuoikeuteen, ympäristövastuuseen tai tuotevastuuseen liittyvien riskien hallitsemiseksi. Ohjelman tulisi sisältää yrityksen toimintaa koskeva riskianalyysin, ohjeet ja prosessit, jatkuvan koulutuksen ja ohjelman toteutumisen seurannan sekä toimenpiteet mahdollisten havaittavien väärinkäytösten varalta. Avainasemassa on pysyvän compliance-kulttuurin luominen yritykseen. Yhdysvalloissa yritys voi pyrkiä lieventämään rikosoikeudellisia seuraamuksia tehokkaalla compliance-ohjelmalla. EU:ssa on käytäntöä siitä, toimiiko compliance-ohjelma lieventävänä tai raskauttava seikkana harkittaessa seuraamussakkojen määräämistä kilpailuoikeutta rikkoneille yrityksille. Keskustelua on käyty myös siitä, voisiko compliance-ohjelmalla olla merkitystä arvioitaessa yrityksen tuottamusta vahingonkorvausvastuun yhteydessä. Compliance-toiminnon avulla yritys voisi pyrkiä osoittamaan toimineensa huolellisimmalla mahdollisella tavalla. Toisaalta se voisi toimia myös yrityksen vastuuseen tai ainakin törkeään huolimattomuuteen viittaavana tekijänä osoittaen korostunutta tietoisuutta ja siten mahdollisuutta estää vahinko sekä piittaamattomuutta toiminnan seurauksista. Jotta yritys ei syyllistyisi moitittavaan riskinottoon, tulisi sen panostaa riskienhallintaan. Compliance-ohjelma on osa yrityksen oikeudellista riskienhallintaa ja toisaalta riskienhallinta on välttämättä olennainen osa tehokasta compliance-ohjelmaa. Huolellisella riskiarvioinnilla ja dokumentoinnilla yritys voi pyrkiä osoittamaan riskinoton olevan hyväksyttävää. Erityisesti epäselvässä tai epävarmassa tulkintatilanteessa, jossa tuottamus ei ole selvää, compliance-ohjelma voi osoittaa yrityksen toiminnalle hyväksyttävät perusteet. Huolellisella compliance-toiminnalla voidaan pyrkiä myös esittämään, ettei mahdollisuutta toimia toisin ole ollut. Toisaalta asianmukaisesti rakennettu compliance-ohjelma voi korottaa toimijalle asetettavaa tietoisuusvaatimusta ja siten vaikuttaa tuottamuksen arviointiin yrityksen kannalta kielteisesti; riski vahingosta olisi tullut ennakoida. Yrityksen rikkoessa complianceohjelmaansa, voi tämä myös osoittaa, mikä vaihtoehtoinen toimintatapa olisi ollut olemassa johtaen siihen, että se vaikuttaa yritykselle asetettavaan huolellisuuden mittapuuhun. Compliance-ohjelman vaikutus tuottamusarviointiin voisi pohjautua juuri varautumiseen, eli ennakoivaan ja toimintajärjestelmiin perustuvaan ajatteluun. Sen merkitykseen tuottamusarvioinnissa tulisi kuitenkin suhtautua varovaisesti, sillä tulee aina arvioida, onko ohjelmalla tosiasiallista merkitystä kyseisessä yksittäistapauksessa. Compliance-ohjelman tarkoitus huolellisen toiminnan edistämisessä sopii yhteen vahingonkorvausoikeuden tavoitteiden kanssa ja voisikin olla perusteltua antaa ohjelmalle merkitystä tuottamusarvioinnissa ja tuottamuksen astetta harkittaessa. Compliance-ohjelma voi vaikuttaa myös vastuuvakuutuksesta saatavaan korvaukseen, vastuunrajoitusehtojen pitävyyteen ja vahingonkorvauslain mukaiseen kohtuusperusteiseen korvauksen sovitteluun. Piittaamattomuus riskistä ja tähän liittyvä törkeä huolimattomuus voisivat johtaa vakuutuskorvauksen menettämiseen ja tehdä vastuunrajoitusehdot pitämättömiksi. Jos yritys compliance-ohjelmasta huolimatta toimii sitä vastoin, voisi tämän huomioimatta jättäminen jopa kannustaa yrityksiä välinpitämättömään riskinottoon niiden luottaessa, ettei ohjelmaa voida käyttää niitä vastaan. Kohtuusperusteisen sovittelun edellytysten arviointi tehdään kokonaisharkinnan perusteella. Compliance-ohjelman merkitys voisi olla suurimmillaan tapauksissa, jossa vahingonaiheuttajan varallisuusolot suhteessa vahingonkärsijään puhuisivat sovittelun puolesta ja ohjelma osoittaisi joko selkeää piittaamattomuutta, tai toisaalta yrityksen täyttäneen sille asetettavan toimintavaatimuksen parhain mahdollisin tavoin. Korvauksen sovittelun harkinta on subjektiivisempaa kuin tuottamusharkinta ja antaa lisäksi tuomioistuimelle varsin laajan harkintavallan. Sovitteluharkinnan luonteen vuoksi voisi olla perustelua antaa compliance-ohjelmalle siinä enemmän merkitystä kuin tuottamusarvioinnin yhteydessä.

3D printing has been described as a revolutionary technology challenging copyright law to the core. 3D printing essentially enables the fast reproduction of objects and enables transforming digital items into physical ones effortlessly. This thesis examines the copyright status of a computer-aided design (CAD) file, which functions as the blueprint and instructions for a 3D printer. Such a file carries information about the design it contains, and a 3D printer may read these instructions and produce the digital item in physical, three-dimensional form. The core of this thesis is to examine whether a CAD file fits within the scope of application of copyright law and further inspects the repercussions of copyright protection being granted for such files. Moreover, the writer suggests practical interpretations and changes as to how copyright law should be interpreted for the regime to be better adapted to technological change in the future. In this thesis, the writer concludes that based on the Finnish Copyright Act (404/1961) and Directive 2001/29/EC as well as applicable case law developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), there is nothing precluding treating such a file as subject matter which may be protected under the national (and EU) copyright regime. This interpretation is in fact encouraged from the basis of applicable case by the CJEU, such as cases C-5/08 Infopaq, C-355/12 Nintendo, C-310/17 Levola and C‑683/17 Cofemel. For something to constitute protectable subject matter, the focal point is for the expression to be contained with sufficient precision and objectivity and more importantly, that the expression constitutes the intellectual creation of its author. With regard to the repercussions of this protection, it is clear that should a CAD file be protected by way of a copyright, a 3D item produced from such a file should either constitute a reproduction or derivative work of such a file. Further, the writer suggests that in order to provide a clear framework for operators in the field, a position paper similar to the one adopted by the European Communities Trade Mark Association in April 2021 as regards design law and 3D printing should be developed. In addition, it is recommended that rightholders take proactive measures in safeguarding their works by adapting business models so that their authentic products are offered by way of different licensing models to combat piracy, similar to the solution developed in the music industry after peer-to-peer online sharing posed troubles for the industry. In the event of the true mass commercialization of 3DP, a centralized body to monitor the industry should be developed, one that establishes functioning licensing models to benefit rightholders. Finally, the FCA should be interpreted in a truly technologically neutral manner. It is likely that such an interpretation will however not fix all the issues copyright law is posed with, and thus, a cohesive copyright reform may be necessary in the future.

The use of expert evidence in international commercial arbitration has continued to gain traction and is, in practice, considered a fixture of the procedure. It is, thus, undoubted that the role of expert evidence is significant. This role is strengthened by the fact that without experts providing the tribunal with specialized knowledge on empirical rules at issue, the tribunal is not able to resolve complex factual issues that are beyond its expertise. This study examines the means available to assist the tribunal in resolving issues of conflicting expert evidence in international commercial arbitration. It builds upon the crucial fact that the role of experts is to assist, educate and advise the tribunal, and that they are only needed for deciding on matters that are beyond the knowledge and expertise of the tribunal. Before addressing the research questions, the study aims to introduce the reader to expert witnessing in international commercial arbitration by considering the definition and the objectives of it, and by discussing certain leading principles such as party autonomy and the ability to tailor the procedure. Further, the role of the expert, the influence of both common and civil law traditions as well as the appointment of experts are discussed in brief. The principal problem and main question that this thesis aims to resolve is the following: What are the means available that assist the tribunal in disputes where expert evidence given is contradictory? The said main question is approached through two separate research questions that separately, but also in a mutually supportive manner, aim at resolving the core question mentioned before. The said questions are discussed under separate chapters, namely, the first one considering the procedural means (Chapter 3), and the second one focusing on non-procedural measures and the credibility of the evidence (Chapter 4). This division is made for clarity reasons and despite certain, inevitable overlapping of these themes. The first question seeks to define the procedural measures available that may be of assistance for the tribunal as it resolves issues caused by conflicting expert evidence. These measures are discussed under three categories, to say, the available questioning techniques, different approaches that have their ground in cooperation of the experts, and other innovative means. The first category is focused on two main techniques, cross-examination and expert conferencing. The second one, in turn, discusses the use of pre-hearing expert meetings, joint reports, exchange of draft reports and the Sachs Protocol. Finally, the third category considers, for instance, the use of single joint experts and arbitrator consultants. The second research question, in turn, focuses on the role of credibility and the non-procedural means available to evaluate this. This chapter as well is divided into three main categories. The first one considers the use of legal psychology as an assisting approach, whereas the second one focuses on the individual communication skills of an expert, both written expression and oral skills. The third one, in turn, presents different models on credibility assessment and elaborates on the issues with the existing, mainly procedural, means. This thesis aims not only to present and evaluate the use of different techniques, but also the recent trends in international arbitral practice. The focus of the study is mostly on party-appointed experts as the core issues with conflicting expert evidence are typically related to them. Further, as in most international commercial arbitrations the parties have agreed upon applying the arbitration rules of a particular institute or some other set of rules, this study has its focus on institutional rather than ad hoc arbitration.

Health apps that are used by individuals in multiple ways to improve their health and wellbeing are promoted as empowering the individual to control their health. Their increasing use means that they also gather more data concerning the health of the users. This data could be used for research or other public interest purposes, but its availability for secondary use is limited. In the EU there is also political interest to both increase availability of personal data in the inner market, as well as facilitate the use of eHealth solutions, including health apps. In this thesis, I will use legal dogmatics as a method to analyse how health apps could be used to gather data for public interest purposes. I look at what type of data is gathered by the health apps and why it is useful, how the GDPR sets criteria for the gathering of data through the apps and it’s secondary use, and how in special cases of research and other public interests, the rights of the data subject can be derogated. I will also compare this to the planned regulatory framework for data sharing, of the proposal for the Data Governance Act has been published. The main conclusion of the thesis is that that the framework for processing data for public interest purposes does not, in most cases, suit either gathering data by health apps, or secondary use of this data. This is both because the public interest as a processing basis needs to be based on law and needs to be balanced similar to a limitation of fundamental rights in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This approach would in most cases be too heavy for this purpose. Instead, the processing is mainly possible on a consent basis. This could, even with the possibility of easier mechanisms for data sharing through data altruism organisations, affect the quality of the data gained, as the willingness to share data – and to even use a health app - vary between different demographic groups.

The purpose of this thesis is to compare Finnish law, English law and the CISG on how the methods of contract interpretation and supplementation ascertain contractual obligations. In other words, how a tribunal is required to examine and reason whether a contractual obligation to act in a certain way exists between the parties. The focus is on commercial contracts concluded in writing. First, this thesis examines Finnish law, English law and the CISG in separate chapters by using a structure that will reveal terminological and theoretical similarities and differences by analysing the theoretical basis of the methods as well as the main principles based on them. This part covers topics, such as what is meant under each law with interpretation and supplementation, the subjective and the objective theoretical approaches as well as with the intent of the parties and understanding of a reasonable person. Second, a comparison is made and conclusions are drawn on how the differences revealed in this thesis may affect a tribunal’s process of interpreting and supplementing a contract. Finally, the overall functionality of the methods is evaluated against the premise that they are expected to guide a tribunal to solve a contract dispute with the best possible outcome. The results of the comparison show that despite the methods under the laws reassemble each other and even use similar terminology, they include remarkable differences that can be traced to be based on the differences in the underlying theories. The difference causing most practical consequences appeared to be in the perspective of how words and expressions used by the parties should be understood. Mainly the question is whereas the words should be understood based on their ordinary meaning or by taking into account the context in which they were used. The evaluation of the functionality of the methods showed that all the laws can be set under certain criticism. It was seen as problematic in this thesis that the laws place the focus excessively on the parties’ communication when ascertaining the contractual obligations. This approach appeared not to properly take into account the fact that languages and human communication are always speculative because they lack a mathematic precision. This feature leads to the situation that interpretation based on parties’ communication will always guide to several different and even random consequences without properly considering what would be the best solution for the contractual dispute. Due to the unpredictability of these methods by law it is suggested in this thesis that contracting parties expressly regulate themselves how a tribunal should interpret and supplement the contract in their specific case. This could be done for example by stating specific values and goals that should be taken into account in order to limit the unpredictability of the interpretation and supplementation results.