Browsing by study line "Private International Law"

Tutkielman keskiössä ovat aviovarallisuusasetuksen ja perintöasetuksen sovellettavaa lakia, lainvalintaa ja toimivaltaa koskevien säännösten systematisointi ja yhteensopivuus keskenään. Aihetta tarkastellaan kansainvälisen yksityisoikeuden, EU-oikeuden sekä Suomen lainsäädännön näkökulmasta. Tutkielman keskiöön asettuu asetusten säännösten systematisointi ja vertailu toisiinsa nähden. Toimivallan osalta keskitytään toimivaltaa koskeviin pääsääntöihin ja yhdyskohtiin asetusten välillä ja kysymykseen tulevat myös aviovarallisuusoikeuden ja perintöoikeuden kategorioiden yhdistämisen ongelmakohdat. Aviovarallisuusoikeus ja perintöoikeus ovat usein yhteydessä toisiinsa ja niitä sovelletaan aina yhdessä esimerkiksi avioliitossa kuolleen henkilön perintöä ja avio-oikeuden alaisen omaisuuden jakamista koskevassa asiassa. EU:ssa ovat tulleet voimaan perintö- ja aviovarallisuusasetus, joiden mukaan määräytyy muun muassa perimykseen tai aviovarallisuussuhteisiin soveltuva laki tai asian toimivaltainen tuomioistuin. Asetusten soveltamisen kohdalla on unionin jäsenvaltioiden kohdalla eroja, koska aviovarallisuusasetusta sovelletaan vain osassa EU-maita. Molemmat asetukset ovat voimassa Suomessa. Tutkielmassa pyritään vastaamaan ennen kaikkea kysymyksiin, millaisiin ratkaisuihin asetuksissa on toimivallan ja sovellettavan lain osalta päädytty? Kun asetuksia sovelletaan yhdessä, mitä ongelmia siitä voi seurata? Millaisia mahdollisuuksia kansainvälisen liittymän sisältävässä avioliitossa puolisoilla on suunnitellessaan perimystä tai aviovarallisuussuhteita? Kansainvälisen yksityisoikeuden tavoitteena voidaan lähtökohtaisesti nähdä, että jokainen asia ratkaistaisiin yhden normiston nojalla samassa tuomioistuimessa, ja asian tultua ratkaistuksi ratkaisu tunnustettaisiin päteväksi ja täytäntöönpanokelpoiseksi kaikkialla. Tutkielmassa huomataan, että kun näitä kahta asetusta sovelletaan yhdessä, on hyvinkin mahdollista, että asiaa ei ratkaista vain yhden normiston nojalla. Myöskään lakiviittausta koskevat säännöt eivät mahdollista asetuksien mukaisen täyden potentiaalin toteuttamista perintöasetuksen mahdollistaman tahdonautonomian suppeuden vuoksi. Tutkielmassa käydään läpi asiaan liittyvät merkittävimmät EUT:n tapaukset. Koska perintöasetus on tullut voimaan vuonna 2015 ja aviovarallisuusasetus 2019, ei näiden kahden asetuksen sovellettavuudesta yhdessä ole vielä tullut oikeustapauksia. Asetusten yhteensovittaminen ja yhdessä soveltaminen voivat aiheuttaa luonnehtimisen ja asian lopputuloksen kannalta hankalia tilanteita, joihin mitä todennäköisimmin tullaan vielä saamaan vastaukset EUT:n ennakkoratkaisumenettelyllä.

The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) has brought with itself an unimaginable ease to large-scale collection and sharing of personal data. Such large-scale collection and sharing are often done on the basis of data subject’s consent. Consent enjoys a prominent role in the European data protection framework. Consent has, however, been criticised for not providing individuals with adequate protection in online environments. This problem will only be exacerbated with the rise of IoT as IoT extends the data collection practices of the online environments also to offline environments. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the use of consent in the processing of personal data in the IoT. There are two research questions this thesis aims to answer: i) what are the problems and challenges related to the traditional consent based model in relation to IoT, and ii) is there an alternative way forward to user consent? This will be done through legal doctrinal methodology. However, this thesis will also take an interdisciplinary approach as it also draws from different disciplines than law such as technology, behavioural sciences and economics. This thesis shows that, in digitalized world, consent is neither freely given nor informed; thus, challenging the notion of valid consent. These problems arise from information and power asymmetries that are present between data subjects and controllers. However, IoT also brings with itself a unique set of problems as most IoT devices lack screens and input methods making it hard for individuals to access information and provide consent. Moreover, the unobtrusive and ubiquitous nature of IoT makes data collection activities invisible making it hard to apply transparency principle. It is also predicted that the presence of IoT in public spaces leads to the diminishment of private spaces. In light of this, this thesis discusses some alternative ways forward to user consent. The first approach focuses on improving consent, while the second approach aims to shift the focus away from consent by placing accountability on controllers. While both of these alternatives have appeal, they do not come without challenges. Therefore, more research is needed in the field of IoT and data protection.

Giving the consolidation of a framework that allows for the operations of drones for commercial purposes by the new implemented Regulation (EU) 2019/947 on the rules and procedures for the operation of unmanned aircraft, this thesis introduces the reader to both the origin of the technology, the potential business applications of drones in the civil environment, and the current provisions regarding the risk-based operational characteristics of the Regulation as means to analyse the previously existing air and contractual law’s provisions. Through the exploration of the relevant legal principles and regulatory guidelines available for the interpretation of liability assignment and applicability, and by comparing the regulation to the contractual model in order to provide a deeper understanding of how the technology can be commercialized on a Drone-as-a-Service model, the author presents the relevant need of further legislation addressing the application of liability regimes harmonization between Member States from the perspective of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operator to satisfy the modern Cloud-Based Services Agreements model and allow the use of Internet as a platform for cross-jurisdictional performance. The first chapter revolves around the historical development and the growing civil interest in the application of drones to activities as a novel, as well as to already established activities that are currently performed by different technologies. Furthermore, it presents the possibility of its characterisation under the framework currently employed by cloud-based services regarding its commercial contractual format. The second chapter focuses on introducing the new Regulations (EU) 2019/947 and 2019/945, which have set the legal and regulatory frame for the safe conduction of activities of unmanned aircrafts, including the principles that served as base for the development of the provision;, the operational rules; machinery requirements and classifications; and the categories’ classification system that have been created for risk assessment. Overall, the frame serves as a guide for anyone interested in venturing in this business. The third chapter explores the international laws and EU air laws that will influence the ruling and potential jurisprudence regarding liability decisions. It aims at presenting both the relevance of Member States autonomy over regulatory decisions and importance towards contractual liabilities disputes. The focus is strongly focused on Operators that will be employed by service providers under the conceptualised cloud-based services agreements contracts framework. Finally, the thesis presents its conclusions and recommendations towards the commercial parties and legislators.

Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract The main research question addressed in this thesis, namely “are perpetual agreements valid and enforceable?”, is enticing from a general contract law perspective, as well as in the comparative law setting. The chapters of this thesis are built in a way such that Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to the research question, legal sources and methodology. Chapter 2 aims to clarify the main confusions around discussions of perpetual agreements. Chapter 3 is dedicated to the binding force of a perpetual agreement, which has not been given enough attention in the research literature as a separate question. Chapter 4 and 5 address the two main categories of perpetual agreements: everlasting contracts and contracts with undefined duration. These chapters include topics which can be addressed to either category, therefore the division of the topics does not provide too strict a systematic distinction. Chapter 6 is dedicated to comparative research from Finnish and Russian contract law perspectives by observing the systems independently in order to bring out the perspectives in which these jurisdictions address the questions of perpetual agreements in the light of their positive contract norms. Chapter 7 presents the research findings in the form of general conclusions about the validity of such contracts as well as systematization in the form of a roadmap to evaluate perpetual agreements. The roadmap then serves the purpose to present the research findings related to Finnish and Russian perspectives on perpetual agreements. The possibility existence of perpetual agreements from the perspective of limiting the freedom contract by mandatory rules of contract law. In conclusion, the research failed to identify a fundamental principle by which the general ban of everlasting contractual obligations could be explained. The research opposes the notion, that perpetual agreements may not exist as an “everlasting” nature of any legal contractual bind would be inherently unjust as such. This is mainly due to the fact, that the legal systems struggle to even comprehend, what eternity means in legal sense. In short, legally speaking, there is nothing inherently unreasonable in eternity. However, undoubtedly, each everlasting agreement should be evaluated based on the nature and purpose of the contract in the light of the intention of the parties, the specific contract type and the relevant mandatory rules in place in connection with type, the circumstances in which the contract was concluded and the requirements of good faith and fair dealing. The roadmap aims to differentiate questions of the validity of the contract (as such, as a legal fact), validity of the perpetual term (everlasting contract), and possibility of termination from each other. The roadmap illustrates the holistic view of the bundle of considerations related to perpetual agreements, without getting stuck in one particular outcome. For example, even if there is no consensus among scholars, whether an everlasting term is valid or not (in a specific case or as a whole) the roadmap allows to elaborate the outcomes by systematizing various scenarios. This provides and essential framework for evaluation of the research questions in various legal systems. The roadmap differentiates questions of the validity of the contract (as such, as a legal fact), validity of the perpetual term (everlasting contract), and possibility of termination from each other. The short answer to the question whether a perpetual contract may be terminated, is yes. But as in all contracts, the pacta sunt servanda provides that contracts should be honoured, and therefore the there is nothing inherently unreasonable in not being able “get out” of a contractual relationship. The ultimate limit to this are the rules of hardship, which the parties may not as such exclude, however they may arrange their risk allocation in the contract so, that some circumstances, which in some contracts could allow the party to terminate the contract, would not be applicable in their situation. Thus, even an everlasting contract may be enforceable until the point of hardship. While this may be true, albeit not inherently unreasonable, there is no doubt, that an everlasting contract may not be unreasonable ever. Therefore, the roadmap explicitly shows, that this is the ultimate question, which requires balancing between the pacta sunt servanda and reasonableness from the perspective of the will of the parties fair dealing, etc. The roadmap shows that in cases in which the everlasting contract term is found invalid, the reasoning is does not follow directly to the default rule of indefinite contracts being terminable, but instead points to the “incomplete contracts”. In practice this means that a consideration should be make in accordance with the rules of supplementation of contracts and omitting a missing term, taking in account the intentions of the parties. In case it would follow directly to the default rule, the default rule might fail to take these into account and reach an unreasonable outcome as well. In a sense, this is also, why in balancing the pacta sunt servanda and reasonableness the outcome leads to similar conclusion as dictated by the default rule. Based on the case law of Finnish Supreme Court it may be argued that the Finnish contract law sems to consider that perpetual agreements are at least somewhat possible, but as an exception may be terminated. The exceptional termination is not as exceptional as it would be in a classical hardship case, but instead reflect the Nordic perspective of reasonableness. There is no legislative rule in the Russian Civil Code prohibiting eternal contractual obligations, however limitations towards terms may be imposed by the Civil Code relevant to specific contract types. Thus, the qualification of a contract to a type, although not obligatory, is of high importance. The default rule for indefinite contracts is not universally valid in accordance with Russian law.

In the last two years, the world has been controlled by Covid-19 imposed travel restrictions, lockdowns and social distancing guidelines. Especially in the beginning of the pandemic, court proceedings temporarily came to a halt or suffered significant delays. Contrary to this, in arbitral proceedings, there has been a seamless transition from in-person to remote hearings. Remote hearings are flexible and efficient, but their compliance with procedural principles in arbitration has been called into question and intensely discussed by arbitration professionals. Despite Covid-19 restrictions currently being lifted in many countries, it is possible that remote hearings will become the “new normal”, i.e. the standard procedure in arbitration. This raises the question whether the use of remote hearings as the new default procedure would be in line with procedural principles or if on the contrary remote hearings should only be used occasionally. In order to answer this question, this thesis examines remote hearings together with procedural principles applicable to arbitral proceedings. More importantly, it contains an in-depth analysis of relevant case-law, which helps understand the relationship of remote hearings and procedural principles. The main conclusion that can be drawn is that remote hearings are generally in line with procedural principles, if planned well and conducted without technical difficulties. Possible downsides to remote hearings are outweighed by the many advantages that remote hearings bring to arbitral proceedings, especially flexibility and efficiency. Therefore, if certain safeguards are respected, nothing is standing in the way of remote hearings becoming the “new normal” in arbitral proceedings.

Avhandlingen behandlar skadestånd vid transport av styckegods till sjöss. Bestämmelser som hänför sig till transportörens skadeståndsansvar finns i sjölagens kapitel 13. Transportören kan undgå skadeståndsansvar ifall en skada beror på så kallat nautiskt fel eller brand. Transportören har dessutom rätt att begränsa sitt ansvar till ett visst, lagstadgat belopp. Dessa bestämmelser avviker från huvudreglerna i finländsk skadeståndsrätt och kan till viss mån vara obekanta för sådana som inte är insatta i sjörätt och transporträtt i allmänhet. Sjörätten är ett rättsområde vars bestämmelser utgörs av internationella konventioner. Den finländska sjölagens bestämmelser är förenliga med Haag-Visbyreglerna, som utformats för över 50 år sedan och vars grund, det vill säga Haagreglerna, utformades för nästan hundra år sedan. Därmed kan man påstå att dessa bestämmelser inte representerar en modern sjörätt, där ansvarsfördelningen mellan parterna är balanserad. Arbetets syfte att granska skadestånd vid transport av styckegods till sjöss och analysera ansvarsfördelningen mellan parterna. Därtill kommer arbetet att svara på frågan om de nuvarande bestämmelserna är föråldrade. Dessutom kommer arbetet att diskutera hur en modern sjörätt kunde utformas samt vilka aspekter som kunde tas i beaktande vid framtida tillämpning av sjörättsliga bestämmelser. Som forskningsmetod i arbetet används den rättsdogmatiska metoden med inslag av rättskritisk och rättskomparativ metod.

This thesis focuses on the choice of law rules in a transnational employment contract. The research object is the new law published in China in 2010, which will be provided an observation on the law content, empirical research on the implementation and practical issues in China, and a comparative study of the rules in the EU to provide potential helpful suggestions on improving the choice of law rules in China. In the disputes arising from the employment relationship which has foreign factors, e.g., foreign employers, foreign workers, posting workers overseas, etc., the applied law to the case is one significant issue in the field of private international law. Such rules in China were not unified in law until the establishment of the Law of the PRC on the Laws Applicable to Foreign-related Civil Relations (LAL). However, the empirical research shows that although the transnational employment contract disputes in China increase in the last decade, the implementation of LAL still meets obstacles from the courts’ lack of attention to the foreign-related factors, poor knowledge of using LAL appropriately, etc. Besides, the flaws of law content, e.g., obscure terms, no specific distinguishment from the collective agreements, controversial understanding of mandatory provisions, lack of party autonomy and practical use of closest connection principle, etc., lead to academic concerns. With a comparison of such rules in the EU, some suggestions are provided, for example, allowing the party’s choice, which could be limited by introducing objectively applicable law; clarifying the obscure terms, e.g., working place, business place, etc.; putting the closest connection principle in a practically useful position; etc. However, due to the current obstacles, some suggestions may not be accepted currently. Besides, with many important external factors, e.g., the impact by the new PRC Civil Code, the One Belt One Road Initiative, the Covid-19, etc., the improvement of the choice of law rules in China is necessary and would meet more challenges in the future.

Startups are today's famous form of businesses that aim to create value and innovation to solve problems or satisfy the needs that exist in society. They differ from traditional businesses in their purposes and structures. They are founded by entrepreneurs with vision and ideas, yet, they mostly lack the necessary experience and funding. Therefore, they sell their company shares to investors in exchange for mentorship, network, and funding. Investors aim to look for opportunities for growth and financial returns in their investment and they plan their exits from the company. Shareholder agreements are used as tools to plan and execute those exit strategies. Finnish and Nordic startup scenes are thriving with the number of investments and the number of innovative startups. For the safety and continuity of the ecosystem, it is important that startups understand the shareholder agreements and they can use those documents to securely plan their future exits, as well. The primary purpose of the master`s thesis is to understand the traditional exit strategies applied in the startup world and to utilize shareholder agreements as a tool to prevent conflicts among founders and investors in the case of an entrepreneurial exit. The paper applies the legal methodology of doctrinal analysis and analyzes available rules and regulations along with the free market applications of shareholder agreements.