SUCCESSFUL 9TH YEAR OF THE CONFERENCE "BLF 2023"
9TH YEAR OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE " BRATISLAVA LEGAL FORUM 2023" WAS HELD ON 11. - 12. SEPTEMBER 2023 IN THE PREMISES OF THE COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN BRATISLAVA, FACULTY OF LAW UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE ALUMNI CLUB OF THE FACULTY OF LAW CU. THE PLENARY SESSION WAS HELD IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CENTRAL THEME OF THE CONFERENCE "MAN AT THE CENTRE OF THE RULE OF LAW".
SUCCESSFUL 9TH YEAR OF THE CONFERENCE "BRATISLAVA LEGAL FORUM 2023"
9TH YEAR OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE " BRATISLAVA LEGAL FORUM 2023" WAS HELD ON 11. - 12. SEPTEMBER 2023 IN THE PREMISES OF THE COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN BRATISLAVA, FACULTY OF LAW UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE ALUMNI CLUB OF THE FACULTY OF LAW CU. THE PLENARY SESSION WAS HELD IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CENTRAL THEME OF THE CONFERENCE "MAN AT THE CENTRE OF THE RULE OF LAW".
The ninth international conference of the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava (FLAW CU) created a space for domestic and foreign participants to present their scientific contributions in 12 parallel sections. The conference created a unique opportunity for judges, lawyers, academics and representatives of public administration to pool opinions, experiences, ideas, share the latest knowledge and provide a platform for discussion on current issues in the field of law.
The plenary session with the central theme "The man at the centre of the rule of law" constituted an important part of the conference. In his opening speech, the Rector of Comenius University in Bratislava, prof. JUDr. Marek Števček, DrSc. emphasized the importance of social sciences, which are able to reflect the full spectrum of changes in society that we are currently facing. In connection with this, he expressed an appeal to the social responsibility of lawyers, how our society will develop in the future. The floor then went to Assoc. JUDr. Eduard Burda, PhD., Dean of the Faculty of Law of CU, who highlighted the fundamental and significant importance of the topic of the man at the centre of the rule of law and what should be the approach of the law to this issue like. "Our society is standing at a fundamental crossroads, where we are deciding what will happen to men if one day algorithms are able to simulate our everyday activities", Dean commented on the topics of the upcoming two panel discussions. Finally, JUDr. Mikuláš Trstenský, CSc., a member of the Executive Board of the Alumni Club, addressed the audience and highlighted the importance of the club's activities both for the management of the faculty and for the alumni of the Faculty of Law of CU, whose active cooperation with the club includes their participation in legal conferences.
The plenary session provided expert discussion in two thematic pillars - "Artificial Intelligence as a Challenge for Law, Legal Education and the Rule of Law", where four speakers took the floor, namely prof. Ing. Ivan Kotuliak, PhD., Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies of STU in Bratislava, prof. Ing. Igor Farkaš, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics of Comenius University in Bratislava, Mgr. Silvia Belovičová, LL.M. - attorney at law and JUDr. Tomáš Jucha, MSc,. from AmCham Slovakia. The discussion outlined a view of artificial intelligence, which represents one of the biggest challenges for society, and this phenomenon does not bypass the law, for which brings a number of challenges. The key issue is a balanced regulation that seeks to avoid unwanted risks while not reducing the innovation potential of the industry.
In the second pillar, the invited experts presented the topic "Criminal Law and the Rule of Law", namely Assoc. JUDr. Eduard Burda, PhD., Dean of the Faculty of Law of CU, JUDr. Petr Angyalossy, PhD., President of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic, JUDr. Jozef Kandera from the General Prosecutor's Office of the Slovak Republic and JUDr. Martin Puchalla, PhD., President of the Slovak Bar Association. The second thematic pillar sought answers to the questions: What are the problems of the rule of law in the field of criminal law? Is the principle of legality respected in all circumstances? What are the future challenges for the Slovak and Czech Republic in the field of criminal law? Both topics were also discussed with questions from the participants of the plenary session.
At the end of the first day of the conference, the participants attended a gala reception in the historic building of Moyzes Hall on Vajanského nábrežie, which was accompanied by the music of the Dominanta Orchestra, the orchestra of the Faculty of Law CU.
The conference continued in a friendly and scholarly spirit on Tuesday, 12 September 2023. The conference has not only resulted in the scientific papers presented by the individual participants, but also in the making of new connections with experts from both academia and practice. Subsequently, FLAW CU will publish a peer-reviewed conference proceedings as an output of the conference.
The conference welcomed a total of almost 350 participants over the two days, including online registrants. Many renowned experts such as Professor Paul du Plessis from the University of Edinburgh, who is an expert in the field of Roman law, Radim Dvořák, Deputy Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia, JUDr. Peter Angyalossy, PhD, President of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic, spoke at the conference. The event was organized by the Centre for Practical Education of Lawyers, o. z., together with FLAW CU, and the Alumni Club of FLAW CU, which provided its auspices to the event.
The organisers of the conference would like to thank their sponsors for their financial, professional and media support, which made this important event possible: two exclusive partners - Slovnaft, a. s., and the law firm G. Lehnert, s. r. o., Wolters Kluwer SR, s. r. o, the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, the Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia, the Council for Media Services, the Slovak Inspectorate of the Environment, the National Labour Inspectorate, Hospodárske noviny, the Agency for Research and Development Support and the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.