How great is Latvia's success story? The economic, social and political consequences of the recent financial crisis in Latvia

The current state of Latvia can be best described in medical terms: the patient is pale, but alive. The financial woes have been successfully resolved, but economic, social and political challenges remain. The crisis is continuing to affect the fabric of social and political life in Latvia. This paper looks at the economic, social and political consequences of the recent financial crisis and the ensuing economic collapse in Latvia and suggests some remedial actions

THE COMPLIANCE OF THE CIVIL PROCEDURE LAW WITH ARTICLE 13 OF UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

The paper explores the compliance of the Civil Procedure Law with Article 13 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Latvia has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010; therefore it is important to study how the rights of persons with disabilities stated in the convention are respected in civil proceedings in practice with respect to effective access to justice

THE LEGAL ADDRESS OF A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY

The paper explores the legal address of a limited liability company. For almost ten years, there is a grapple with a problem that limited liability companies are absent at their legal address or the consent of the owner of the property is forged to register the legal address of the company. Regulations have already been amended for several times with the aim of eliminating unfair practices, however, with little success to date. Most recently, amendments to the Commercial Law have come into force in 2017, which provides for the elimination of merchants that will not be accessible at their legal address; therefore it is important to study the particular issue to determine the impact of the aforementioned amendments on the registration of a front company

CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR PIRACY

The publication is dedicated to reflect of problems concerning criminal liability for piracy, their analysis and expression of proposals for their prevention. The author analyzes the judicial decisions of copyright infringement, giving rise to the conclusion, that currently there is problem translating the concept “essential damage”. There is raised thesis that paragraph 148 of the Criminal Law can’t accomplish their functions and can’t protect in constitution guaranteed copyrights, on the publication. Finally, there are provided conclusions

„Mes nekenkiame aplinkai“: gynybiniai humanitarinių mokslų režimai administraciniame akademijos diskurse

For the last decade, the humanities are globally pronounced as stranded in a crisis or at least touched by it. In the times of crisis the apologetic discourse is more important and visible than in the times of relative peace and prosperity. Comparing to the Anglo-Saxon humanities, the rhetoric of crisis is not very popular among the representatives of Lithuanian humanities. The article reconstructs the main arguments and defensive regimes used by scholars during experimental discussions on the value of the humanities in Lithuania. The empirical data consists of four discussions (conducted in 2017–2018). The aim of the article is to analyse this argumentation and to compare it to the global discourse on the value of the humanities.Pastarąjį dešimtmetį globaliu mastu konstatuojama humanitarinių mokslų krizė. Kai būklė krizinė, humanitarinės savigynos režimas gerokai svarbesnis ir ryškesnis, ypač palyginti su institucinės taikos ir gerovės laikais. Skirtingai nuo kolegų iš anglosaksiškojo pasaulio, tarp Lietuvos humanitarų krizinė retorika nėra itin populiari, todėl galima klausti, kaip jie artikuliuoja savo disciplinų poreikį bei naudą. Straipsnyje pristatomi dominuojantys gynybiniai režimai ir argumentai, rekonstruoti iš 2017–2018 m. vykusių keturių eksperimentinių diskusijų su Lietuvos universitetų mokslininkais apie humanitarinių mokslų reikšmę. Straipsnio tikslas – šių argumentacijų analizė bei sugretinimas su globaliais humanitarinių mokslų vertę grindžiančiais argumentais

Capacity Planning and Resource Acquisition Decisions Using Robust Optimization

This dissertation studies strategic capacity planning and resource acquisition decisions, including the facility location problem and the technology choice problem. These decisions are modeled in an integrative manner, and the main purpose of the proposed models and numerical experiments is to examine the effects of economies of scale, economies of scope, and the combined effects of scale and scope under uncertain demand realizations using robust optimization. The type of capacities, or technology alternatives, that a firm can acquire can be classified on two basic dimensions. The first dimension relates to the effects of scale via distinction between labor-intensive (less automated) technologies and capital-intensive (more automated) technologies. The second dimension relates to the effects of scope via distinction between product-dedicated and flexible technologies. Moreover, each of the product-dedicated and flexible technologies can have different levels of labor or capital-intensiveness, leading to the joint effects of economies of scale and economies of scope. Each of the technology alternatives possesses certain cost structures. Labor-intensive technologies are characterized by low fixed costs and high variable costs, whereas capital-intensive technologies are characterized by just the opposite cost structure, i.e., high fixed costs and low variable costs. Flexible technologies cost more than product-dedicated technologies, both in terms of fixed and variable costs. Robust optimization methodology is used to investigate how different levels of robustness, and facility and technology costs affect the quantities, types and allocation of technologies to facilities. Results show that specific technology choice patterns emerge depending on various cost structures and different levels of model robustness specified to accommodate uncertain demand realizations. The results obtained by the two-stage robust optimization approach are compared to the results obtained by a non-robust approach and a stochastic programming approach

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITY FOR STUBBLE BURNING AND NOT CUTTING GRASS

The publication is dedicated to research problems about the application of administrative liability for last year's burning of grass and grass non cutting. The author analyzes the judicial decisions about application of administrative liability for last year's burning of grass giving rise to the conclusion, that currently, responsible authorities and courts misinterpret Latvian Code of Administrative Violations second paragraph of article 51. In addition, there is a duplication of legal provisions in Latvian Code of Administrative Violations. Finally, there are provided proposals to address the above problems

The Learned and the Common People. Two Traditions in the Latvian Mythology

The present article follows the formation of a view on the Latvian mythology, distinctly different from the one that can be drawn from the analysis of the folklore texts. It can be concluded that the cause for this discrepancy is the attitude of the learned men authoring the different texts describing the mythology of the local people in more or less detail. They relied basically on writings of other authors instead of the living tradition itself, as any folkloristic or anthropological approach was yet the matter of far future. By repeating the data found in other written works, this information appears to be widely known and completely reliable. The ultimate collection of all the data is to be found in an appendix to the “Latvian Grammar” by Gotthard Friedrich Stender – an outstanding representative of Enlightenment in Latvia. In order to trace the development of the particular corpus of data included in this work, the probable earlier sources are analysed, comparing the available data to establish their relations