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Water is not only one of the international community’s most puzzling issues but also one of the most controversial areas of international trade. At present, over 1.1 billion people lack access to clean water and over 2.4 billion people lack access to proper sanitation. Due to their fundamental nature, water services have traditionally been thought of as public services. During recent decades, however, many countries have adopted policies that enable private sector participation in the supply of water services. Consequently, water services are nowadays a major field of international trade, and they are covered by the framework of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). By using the legal dogmatic method, this study aims to provide a review of the issues that arise in the interrelationship between the rigid provisions of the GATS and domestic water service policies. In special focus are the consequences of unsuccessful privatization and the possibilities for World Trade Organization (WTO) Members to adjust their water policies according to their domestic preferences and standards. Some critics argue that the fundamental nature of water services is incompatible with the rationale of trade liberalization. This thesis aims to establish that GATS provisions can be interpreted so as to acknowledge the specific nature of water services. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter discusses firstly the scope of application of the GATS and whether water services could be exempted from the scope of the GATS pursuant to Art. I:3(b)(c). Secondly, the first chapter elaborates the current classification of water services under the WTO. To date, it is unclear whether and to what extent water services are classified under the WTO. Initiatives to change the current classification under the WTO have been made in the past negotiation rounds, but due to the sensitive nature of these services, the negotiations have so far ended with no results. The second chapter focuses on Arts. XVI (market access) and XVII (national treatment). This chapter aims firstly to analyze the interrelationship between market access obligations and domestic water policies. In special focus are numerical limitations on foreign service suppliers and how such limitations ought to be assessed in a natural monopoly market. Secondly, it discusses how domestic water policies may violate a Member’s national treatment obligations under Art. XVII. It is suggested that the current assessment of likeness is not compatible with the nature of water services, and that legitimate policy objectives should be taken into consideration in the likeness analysis. The third chapter discusses the possibilities to justify trade-restrictive water policies pursuant to Art. XIV. Light is also shed on the status of the human right to water and sanitation, and its importance in the justification of GATS-inconsistent measures. The justification of water policies is discussed particularly with respect to paragraphs (a) and (b) of Art. XIV. In light of the existing case law, the thesis discusses whether measures concerning the supply of water services are likely to fulfill the requirements set by Art. XIV. Finally, the thesis links water services to a broader societal context. The contradiction between respecting the right of WTO Members to introduce domestic regulation on services and the objective of progressive liberalization of services trade is discussed with special focus on the potential of Art. VI of the GATS. Furthermore, the thesis underlines the significance of water services in relation to development. It is submitted that developing countries should be reserved an emphasized leeway to determine their domestic policies in order to best promote their development. It is not yet clear where the GATS draws the line between its stated objectives. This thesis argues that the right balance between economic and non-economic interests would eventually both abolish unnecessary barriers to trade and promote the fulfillment of the human right to water and sanitation.

The research focuses on the prohibition on excessive pricing in Article 102 TFEU. This prohibition belongs to one of the most criticized ambits of EU competition law. Still, the Court of Justice of the European Union has clearly stated that high prices by dominant undertakings may amount to an abuse in some cases, most recently in September in its judgment AKKA/LAA (C-177/16). The case-law, as well as the Commission’s decisional practice, is very sparse and at times in-coherent. This research attempts to assess and systematize the case-law by focusing both on the assessment of excessiveness and on enforcement in cases where prices are deemed excessive. The research takes a legal dogmatic approach. As is customary in research on EU law, linguistic, systemic and teleological interpretation is used. When dealing with competition law, the economics that are at the backdrop of the law cannot be ignored. In addition to a legal dogmatic approach, an interdisciplinary approach will hence also be adopted. It is also important to note, that the research presumes consumer welfare to be the ultimate aim of EU competition law. The first chapter of the actual research contains a look at the economics of pricing, as well as an overview on the prohibition on abuse of dominance pursuant to Article 102 TFEU. This is justified by the need to understand the context of the subsequent chapters. In the second chapter, the criticism on excessive pricing action is introduced, followed by the different proposals presented in the doctrine on what the test to assess excessive pricing should be. After this follows an attempt to systematize the case-law, and last an assessment of whether the different tests proposed by the doctrine match the case-law. The last chapter discusses the enforcement of the prohibition on excessive pricing. The findings of the research are that there should be more of a focus in the doctrine on systematizing and improving the case-law, instead of purely de lege ferenda research focusing on the problems with enforcement. There seems to be a consensus on that enforcement is reasonable in certain exceptional cases where the market is unlikely to correct itself within a reasonable timeframe, and this is what should be focused on. This research shows that the CJEU currently accepts several different tests, with varying burdens of proof. It is suggested that this is not ideal from the point of view of legal certainty, and that the different tests should be brought closer to each other. The research also shows that there are still a number of fundamental questions unanswered by the CJEU, such as what costs are relevant for the assessment, whether the tests should revolve around an as-efficient competitor and whether demand factors are relevant in all cases or only in the so-called Lucazeau test, named after case Lucazeau (Joined cases 110/88, 241/88 and 242/88). The research also shows that there are many possible remedies for the Commission to use in a case of excessive pricing, and that the presumption should not be that excessive pricing enforcement always would amount to price regulation. It is further noted that the Commission’s reticence to bring cases concerning excessive pricing might be misplaced, as the rise in such actions by national competition authorities indicates a need for clarity in the currently inconsistent case-law. A recent alarming development is also observed, whereby the Commission might be trying to circumvent its high burden of proof through Commitment decisions.

The thesis examines the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in a conflict context in Ukraine. The theoretical standpoint is critical feminism. The aim has been to understand how the implementation of the resolution as part of international law works in the context of war, what kind of security needs have been voiced by Ukrainian women, and to what extend the national implementation of the 1325 agenda has been able to bring transformative, structural change to the lives of Ukrainian women in midst of war. The thesis finds that the two Ukrainian National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security (for years 2016–2020 and 2020–2025) has focused heavily on military security, despite the plans themselves covering the agenda comprehensively. Women’s meaningful participation to peacebuilding has been side-lined, efforts to ensure protection and human rights have brought only limited results, and development has been negative in the area of economic security. Greatest progress has been seen in military security, which has led to the militarisation of the agenda. Thanks to international support, Ukraine’s action plans are technically high-level, but their implementation on national, regional, as well as local levels has suffered from the lack of coordination, resources, and technical capacities. Political will is heavily linked to Ukraine’s Western integration. Nevertheless, Ukrainian women have considered the National Action Plans as important tools for advocacy. The possibility for transformative change cannot be overlooked from the outside, yet lasting change requires continuous work. Finland can utilise lessons learned in Ukraine in its support for the agenda’s implementation internationally.

Cultural property has come to have immense value to people around the world. Especially in Western nations culture has come to be represented as and by things, and nation states place a great role on iconic pieces of art from their past. However, over the course of history, vast quantities of these objects have been relocated from around the world to other nations, especially to the ex-colonialist countries. For a long time, the plundering of art has been a central part of warfare; only after the Battle of Waterloo has the general opinion begun to change towards opposing it. International law finally illegalized plunder in warfare after the immense looting campaigns by the Nazis in World War II. Because of this long history of plunder, and most recently the nationalistic emphasis on cultural property, recent decades have seen vast numbers of demands for restitution of cultural property into their countries and cultures of origin. However, even though there has also been a growing trend of restitution visible in recent decades, for the most part the items stay in their current locations. There is a heated debate that has been going for decades, even centuries, around this subject, but although the occasional return is made, it seems the debate does not notably progress anywhere. The debate is roughly divided into two opposing viewpoints, ‘cultural nationalism’, centred around the idea that cultural property belongs inherently to the nation of origin; and ‘cultural internationalism’, which proposes that cultural heritage belongs to humanity in general, and its allocation needs to be decided upon by other principles. In the thesis I study the debate over the restitution of cultural property, in order to find out why it is that the debate has continued for so long in very similar tracks, without any apparent change. I propose that the debate mirrors the argumentation structures in the theory of international law presented by Martti Koskenniemi in his work From Apology to Utopia. In both, the arguing parties base their case on a principle that is not inherently more preferable than the other – though in cultural property debate it is a matter of personal values, while in international law it is a question of effectiveness in the situation at hand. But in order to argue a successful case, both parties need to also use argumentation of the kind the opposing party uses. However, each argument can also be criticized for either apologetic – granting too much power and leeway to the nations, letting them act as they please – or utopian – being too idealistic and unrealizable in reality. The debate also proves that the ‘nationalism’ and ‘internationalism’ approaches are in fact not as separate from each other as they at first appear to be. In the debate, the rhetoric often implies an approach completely devoid of any political consideration. However, it is shown that neither side can claim to be truly apolitical, and in fact there is a great deal of politics involved in cultural property discourse overall. This also reflects the situation in international law, which has developed with the aim of separating it from politics, but is inevitably tied with it. The argumentation ends up being a balancing act not to lean too much into apology or utopia. This structure of discourse, which includes the way each argument can be flipped and used by the other side, upholds the debate in perpetuity, until – in international law – an external factor is brought in to decide the case. In cultural property debate, there is also the possibility of a fundamental change of perspective. I present and assess three such alternative approaches, ranging from two approaches that would fundamentally change the way cultural property is understood, to a more modest proposal of bringing internationalism and nationalism closer together. While the latter, pragmatic solution is more likely to be achieved, it also has more a risk to not bring any true change into the debate. Whether such a change is required, however, is another matter.

Data is the fuel of the digital economy and has become vital for innovation and consumer targeting. Data use is therefore also becoming a central factor for the competitiveness of markets. The increased processing of personal data has prompted a response from the EU legislators to improve the right of individuals to control their data through data protection rules. Now, it has been called for considering the of role competition law in striking down market conduct that reduces the users’ privacy. The question has been brought up in the Facebook case by the German Federal Cartel Office, and has accordingly become an issue EU competition law cannot ignore. Therefore, this thesis will examine to what extent the imposition of user terms that are disadvantageous to the end user’s privacy or breach of data protection rules can be considered an abuse of dominance under competition law. This will be done through a critical analysis of the Facebook decision, and an examination of the possibilities for similar conduct to be considered abusive according to Article 102 TFEU. Chapter 2 explains central factual and economic concepts that contribute to understanding how competition works in data-driven markets. First, Big Data is defined based on its central characteristics. This establishes data’s importance for digital markets. Secondly, economic concepts such as network effect, switching costs and economies of scale that typically occur in these markets, are examined. Finally, the chapter presents the legal notion of abuse of dominance under German and EU competition law, and the general concept of data protection law in the EU. This provides the foundation for the further analysis. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the Facebook decision and proceeds with a critical analysis. The Federal Cartel Office found Facebook’s data processing policy to violate data protection rules and to constitute an abuse of a dominant position. Members of the social networking platform had to agree to the collecting of data from outside of Facebook and merging it with the user profile. In particular, two aspects of the decision call for examination. First, the geographical scope of Facebook was found to be national, which means that German, and not EU, competition law was to be applied. Ensuring the national competition authority to be competent to investigate the case, this thesis questions whether the scope should have been wider. Secondly, relying on a breach of data protection law to establish an abuse is novel. As the case law on exploitative abuses is limited, a critical evaluation is done of the reasoning to assess the decision’s value in this regard. Chapter 4 examines the possibility for the imposition of contractual terms that decrease the user’s privacy to constitute an abuse of dominant position under Article 102 TFEU. This is done through first drawing up guidelines based on the relevant case law on exploitative abuses, which identifies a proportionality test for unfair trading terms. Further, the possibilities for relying on the breach of other legal provisions, in particular data protection rules, in the abuse analysis is explored. The analysis concludes that such practices can constitute unfair trading conditions and therefore be an abuse of dominance. However, the analysis heavily relies on the facts of the case where the objects and benefits of contract terms imposing data processing is central in the assessment of proportionality. The second part of the chapter considers potential issues of applying competition law parallel with data protection law. Especially, it focuses on how the principles of ne bis in idem and rule of law can be safeguarded. Chapter 5 explores the intersection between competition, consumer and data protection law and asks if competition law is a suitable tool to pursue data protection goals. The similarities and differences between the three legal fields are considered, as well as experiences with conduct similar to that of Facebook in Germany in other jurisdictions. The thesis then considers the role of EU competition law de lege ferenda for such behaviour. It is argued that a holistic approach to violations of data protection rights or similar reduction of privacy through contractual terms is necessary, and that competition law should not distance itself from these issues. It is concluded that competition law can play an important role, but it must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis whether competition law is the suitable legal tool for intervention. The thesis concludes that practices similar to that of Facebook can be considered to constitute an abuse of dominance under Article 102 TFEU. However, caution must be exercised based on the facts, to determine whether it should be applied in the case at hand. This way, competition law can contribute to creating a holistic approach to the issues arising in the market due to data protection issues.

This thesis aims to answer the question of when regulatory measures taken with regard to environmental concerns amount to expropriation. International investment treaties provide protection against both direct and indirect expropriation and initially cover also indirect takings caused by regulatory measures. Two opposite doctrines, the sole effects doctrine and the police powers doctrine, have evolved to answer the very question of when regulatory measures amount to expropriation. In this thesis I will execute a doctrinal study in order to argue that while the police powers doctrine might be more politically legitimate, it does not find sufficient legal support from the sources of international law, and therefore, the sole effects doctrine finding firm legal support from the investment treaties should prevail. The sole effects doctrine determines the existence of regulatory expropriation by examining the effect that the regulatory measure has on the investment. This doctrine finds its legal support from the investment treaties. It is supported by the wordings and terms used in the expropriation clauses. When interpreting the investment treaties according to the rules of treaty interpretation laid down in the Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties, it is rather evident that the sole effects doctrine should prevail. The police powers doctrine on the other hand states that measures falling into the police powers of the state fall out of the scope of indirect expropriation. According to the police powers doctrine non-discriminatory regulatory measures that are taken in the public interest and enacted with due process shall not be deemed expropriatory and compensable. The police powers doctrine does not find any support from the investment treaties and the expropriation clauses initially cover general regulatory measures. Thus the police powers doctrine relies on its alleged support from the customary international law. In order to determine if the police powers doctrine is legally sustainable, I will first analyse the rulings of the investment tribunals, and observe how the tribunals have answered the question of regulatory expropriation. In the case law analysis, I will conclude that tribunals tend to determine indirect expropriation by referring to the effect of the measure. Correspondingly, the initial examination of the existence of an indirect expropriation is executed by examining the effect that the government measure has on the investment. As to the question of the weight given to the public interest concerns, no unified opinion is to be found. Some of the tribunals do endorse the police powers doctrine but no unified practice seems to exist also on this regard. The placement and way of endorsement of the police powers doctrine in the practice suggest that the police powers doctrine is a possible exception doctrine. The treaty clauses regarding expropriation do not include exceptions of any kind, and therefore, in order to support the police powers doctrine this exception needs to be found from the customary international law. Since a profound examination of the existence of a customary international law norm would require extensive research, in this thesis will concentrate on pointing out factors that indicate that such norm odes not exists. After concluding that the police powers doctrine does not find sufficient legal support from the investment treaties or from the customary international law, I will discuss the argument that the police powers doctrine often uses to justify itself and that is the need for balancing the interests. I will also discuss shortly about the transplantation of the proportionality analysis into the investment treaty sphere and conclude that neither of these gives support to the endorsement of the police powers doctrine. At the end of the thesis I can conclude that since the police powers doctrine does not find sufficient legal support, the sole effects doctrine should prevail.

Liability of online operators for user-generated content is a topical issue in Europe. The case of Delfi AS v. Estonia, which is currently pending before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, is one example of a situation where questions related to this issue are analysed. The First Section judgment finding the online news portal operator, Delfi, liable for defamatory user-generated comments was widely criticized. Moreover, other topical issue in Europe regards dissemination of cyber hate. This thesis combines these two elements and seeks to answer the following question: Which online entities, if any of them, are liable for the dissemination of user-generated cyber hate? The analysis is limited to the approach of the Council of Europe, although the rules and principles adopted in the United States are referred to due to their trendsetter status. Freedom of expression is protected by Article 10 of the European Human Rights Convention. According to the rules and principles adopted in the framework of the Council, this Article does not protect ‘hate speech’ or its online version ‘cyber hate’. However, there exists no clear definition of ‘hate speech’. In the strategies adopted by different Council bodies and in the case-law of the Court, several categories of speech have been considered as ‘hate speech’. However, this practice has been neither clear nor consistent. This is especially regrettable noting that, according to the Court’s case-law, ‘hate speech’ can be categorically excluded from the protection of Article 10 by using the probation of the abuse of rights clause provided for in Article 17 of the Convention. In the course of this research, I come to oppose said the application of said Article due to the unnecessary risks it poses on the enjoyment of freedom of expression. Moreover, I strongly endorse the adoption of a legally binding definition of the central notion. Concerning liability issues, in the case-law of the Court, the media has been afforded special protection under Article 10. On the other hand, this protection is coupled with responsibilities. Therefore, professional journalists have been held liable even for dissemination of third-party content. The central elements analysed by the Court when imposing such liability in printed media cases have been the amount of editorial control and the intent of the journalist. Due to their functions, some online operators have been assimilated to these traditional media actors. They are considered content providers. However, so-called Internet service providers are a category of online operators regarded as intermediary or auxiliary entities. These entities enjoy a limited liability regime. Again, the key in making this distinction between content providers and ISPs is the amount of editorial control over the content the respective entity hosts, transmits or allows to access. Extensive control over information is coupled with wider liability. In the case of Delfi, the First Section of the Court concluded that due to the amount of control practiced by Delfi, it was to be regarded as a content provider. I agree with the main parts of the Court’s analysis. Furthermore, the liability related principles adopted by the Court in this case can be applied in relation to ‘cyber hate’ cases, although the criminal nature of these cases allows the primary liability to be imposed also on the actual authors of the content. I consider that in order for the Council’s fight against ‘hate speech’ to be effective, additional liability should be imposed on content providers and, in specific circumstances, even on ISPs. I endorse the mobilization of and co-operation with the relevant private sector actors to form guidelines on self-regulatory measures they could apply in order to comply with their duties. Accordingly, the suggested answer to the question posed in the beginning of this research is that all online operators can be liable for user-generated ‘cyber hate’ in case they neglect their respective responsibilities. In the future, the aim of the Council should be to try to hinder any attempts by these entities to rely on the so-called wilful blindness. However, any liabilities imposed must be assessed on case-by-cases basis, taking the circumstances of the specific cases into account, and respecting the inherent principles of Article 10 of the Convention.

Today’s global economy has turned into an information economy in which data has become the new commodity. Data can be transferred internationally in a split second. In the process, jurisdictional lines have become blurry, and companies struggle to understand which rules apply to their data processing activities. Jurisdiction in the Internet realm is one of the most complex challenges, especially concerning issues related to data privacy. Different jurisdictions understandably attempt to extend the application of their data privacy rules as far as possible in order to safeguard their citizens’ rights. However, this practice of extraterritoriality has revealed a deeper privacy conflict between the European and American privacy traditions. The EU started its most recent privacy challenge with the US by affirming the so-called “right to be forgotten” in Google Spain SL v. Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (Case C-131/12 May 13, 2014), a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in May 2014. The decision represents one of the most far-reaching applications of European data privacy laws and one of the first attempts to regulate privacy online in the information age. This and subsequent CJEU decisions have made it increasingly difficult for companies to avoid EU data privacy laws. This thesis begins by exploring context relevant to the greatly differing privacy discussions occurring in the EU and the US – the two most influential privacy jurisdictions of the world. Next, this thesis will examine the legal implications of the Google Spain decision, especially regarding the decision’s territorial scope and impact. The purpose of this thesis is to explore when companies are obligated to follow the European rules on data privacy after Google Spain and related cases, including the widening definition of “establishment” under Article 4(1)(a) of the DPD. Finally, this thesis will consider new ways of defining the extraterritorial effect of EU data privacy law. Although this research primarily assumes an EU perspective, many aspects are relevant to US and international entities.

This Master's Thesis examines the compatibility of the European Union's present and future data protection law with connected traffic, which encompasses traffic technologies utilizing various electronic communication networks. The new forms of traffic enable services that, for instance, enhance safety, reduce pollution and make driving automatic. However, they require a constant flow of electronic communications data, most of which is considered personal data under the EU data protection law. This Thesis concentrates on scrutinizing consent as a lawful basis for processing of the location data used in the new traffic solutions. The main method of this study is the legal doctrinal method, and the future EU law is examined from a de lege ferenda perspective. First, the Thesis posits an answer for the research question “how do the present and future ePrivacy legal instruments of the EU regulate the legal basis for location data processing in the context of connected vehicles?”. After that, solutions are proposed for the second research question “how can these obligations be met in a way that would make connected traffic possible?”. The current data protection framework of the EU consists of the General Data Protection Regulation and the ePrivacy Directive. These legal instruments set consent as the sole applicable basis for the majority of location data processing in connected traffic. In the light of the opinions and proposals of the EU legislative institutions, the new ePrivacy Regulation, which is currently prepared, does not seem to change the situation. Under the GDPR, consent has to be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes. The forms of data processing essential for connected traffic, especially the communication taking place only between machines (M2M), do not enable acquiring consents from the drivers in accordance with the requirements of the GDPR. This Thesis aims at solving the consent issue by examining anonymization and pseudonymization, consent management services, M2M exemptions and alternative legal bases for data processing to consent. To enable the location data processing necessary for connected traffic, the EU legislators should utilize all these solutions in the new ePrivacy Regulation. The study posits that the protection of personal data and the confidentiality of communications can be integrated with the new traffic technologies by acknowledging the different purposes of data processing in connected traffic and defining a suitable legal basis and a level of regulation for each purpose. The new legal bases can be supported by the use of pseudonymization, the further study and utilization of consent management services and the introduction of a household exemption to enable the M2M communications taking place between vehicles.

This thesis studies Finland’s and Sweden’s current and potential future engagement methods with the DPRK by focussing on women’s rights and gender equality. Interviews held with Finnish and Swedish foreign ministry representatives, NGO workers, and experts on North Korea reveal how the two countries engage with North Korea and how women’s rights and gender equality are being addressed in the Northeast Asian context. It will first outline how this research was conducted before introducing some of the most pertinent problems relating to gender equality and women’s right in the DPRK. Next, the histories between North Korea and the two Nordic states is outlined, after which theoretical considerations concerning feminist foreign policy, human-rights based, middlepowermanship, and soft power are discussed. Research findings are then examined and analysed before concluding with further broader examination of Finnish and Swedish engagement with North Korea and the importance of advancing gender equality and women’s rights globally.