Report on the Plenary Session of the Bratislava Legal Forum 2025
On 18 September 2025, Faculty of Law, Comenius University
On September 17, 2025, the Plenary Session of the Bratislava Legal Forum 2025 was held at
the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava (hereinafter referred to as the
"FLAW"). The Plenary Session had the central topic "Digitalization of Law and Security in the
Digital Environment". The event brought together prominent academics, experts from
practice, representatives of public administration and the diplomatic corps. The Plenary
Session was held in the historic Aula of Comenius University in Bratislava, with discussions
taking place in Slovak, Czech, English, Polish and Hungarian with simultaneous interpretation
provided for foreign guests.
The event is funded by the European Union under the NextGenerationEU initiative, the main
professional partner of the conference is the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the
Slovak Republic, and the media partner is TA3 television. General partners of the Bratislava
Legal Forum 2025 include the National Security Authority of the Slovak Republic, the FLAW
Alumni Club, Slovenská sporiteľňa, Bratislava Law Review, Wolters Kluwer, European Law
Students' Association (ELSA) and the company St. Nicolaus. The plenary session was held
within the project of the Competence Center for the Regulation of Cybersecurity, Privacy
and Cybercrime (CUSEC).
The opening ceremony of the plenary session belonged to representatives of the academic
community. The participants were welcomed by Prof. JUDr. Marek Števček, DrSc., Rector
of Comenius University in Bratislava, who emphasized the importance of digitalization for
legal science and practice and the need for a systematic approach to cybersecurity issues. His
words were followed by Prof. JUDr. Eduard Burda, PhD., Dean of FLAW, who pointed out
the need to support professional discussion and education in the field of information
technology law and digital regulation. Distinguished guests from the fields of public
administration and diplomacy also took the floor – Juraj Blanár, Minister of Foreign and
European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, who appreciated the support for events highlighting
the need to connect law and digital security in both the European and global context, Matúš
Šutaj Eštok, Minister of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, who emphasized the key role of
legal regulation in the area of cybersecurity, and Gautam A. Rana, Ambassador of the United
States of America, who spoke about the importance of joint efforts by democratic countries
in strengthening cybersecurity and creating a fair legal framework for the digital
environment.
The program then continued with two panel discussions, which created a platform for the
exchange of experiences and expertise between representatives of several countries. The first
panel discussion, moderated by JUDr. Michal Rampášek from the Institute of Information
Technology Law and Intellectual Property Law of FLAW, focused on the transposition of the
NIS2 Directive and its implementation in the practice of the Visegrad Four countries. The
speakers were Viktor Munkácsi, Head of the Incident Management Department at the
Hungarian National Cybersecurity Center, Marcin Domagała, Head of the Department forInternational Cooperation in the Field of Cybersecurity from Poland, Ondřej Polák from the
Czech National Office for Cyber and Information Security and Jaroslav Ďurovka, Director of
the National Cybersecurity Center of the Slovak Republic, who presented specific experiences
and challenges associated with the implementation of this legislation in individual countries.
The second panel discussion, moderated by JUDr. Ondrej Hamuľák , PhD. from the Institute
of Information Technology Law and Intellectual Property Law of FLAW, was dedicated to the
global challenges of digital regulation and provided space for presentations by experts from
various countries and academic backgrounds. The panelists were Hong Dae-sik, Professor of
Economic Law at Sogang University School of Law, South Korea, Iana Kazeeva, Postdoctoral
researcher at the Department of Innovation and Digitalization in Law in Vienna, Lilla Nóra
Kiss, PhD., Lead Policy Analyst at the Schumpeter Project on Competition Information Policy
Technology and Innovation Foundation, and doc. JUDr. Matúš Mesarčík , PhD., LL.M. from
the Institute of Information Technology Law and Intellectual Property Law of FLAW, who
addressed issues of digital market regulation, competition protection, and innovative
approaches to the regulation of artificial intelligence and digital technologies.
An important part of the Plenary Session of the Bratislava Legal Forum 2025 were also expert
sections, which created a space for the presentation of academic research results and expert
discussion. The section on information technology law and intellectual property law, with the
main theme "Regulation, Cybersecurity and Digitalization of Law", covered a wide range of
topics such as risks for children in the online environment and the role of European legislation
in their protection, the ban on political advertising on social media platforms and its legal
implications, the issues of regulating automated vehicles, regulatory sandboxes under the
Artificial Intelligence Act, or criminal law overlaps of artificial intelligence. The issues
discussed included remote drivers from the perspective of criminal law, cross-border
cooperation between EU Member States in securing data in criminal proceedings, and the
challenges of implementing the Cyber Resilience Act.
The civil law section with the topic "Current Challenges and Limits of Civil Law in Connection
with the Advent of Artificial Intelligence" provided space for discussion on the legal status of
artificial intelligence, the possibilities of its use in issuing court decisions, and issues of
consumer law and family law in the digital era. Among the topics discussed were the child's
right to privacy in the context of digital parental supervision, the use of digital technologies
in the enforcement of decisions in matters concerning minors, optimal models of regulation
of artificial intelligence in consumer trade, and the review of arbitration decisions in the era
of algorithms.
The social program of the event offered participants the opportunity to get to know the
historical landmarks of Bratislava during a sightseeing ride on the Prešporáčik train and also
provided space for informal meetings during a ceremonial reception at the Devín Hotel,
which took place in the evening after the professional part of the program. The reception washeld in a friendly atmosphere and allowed for the establishment of new professional and
personal contacts between participants from Slovakia and abroad.
The plenary session of the Bratislava Legal Forum 2025 creates a unique space for the
exchange of knowledge, experiences and opinions within the professional community.