Gjeopolitika e Shqipërisë – mundësia e kyçjes së Republikës së Kosovës në gazsjellësin – TAP

Në Ballkan, Evropë dhe botë zhvillohen beteja të ashpra për atë se kush do t’i kontrollojë tubacionet gazpërçuese, gjë e cila nuk nënkupton vetëm favore financiare, por edhe pozicione të fuqishme gjeopolitike. Pas dështimit të dy projekteve të mëdha gazpërçuese për Ballkanin – projekti “Rrjedha Jugore” (South Stream) dhe “NABUCCO”, definitivisht fitoi projekti TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipelines), projekti më i madh në Ballkan, në 100 vitet e fundit, i cili Shqipërinë do ta shndërrojë në arterie të rëndësishme energjetike të Evropës. Kjo dukshëm do të ndikojë në dinamizimin e zhvillimit ekonomik të Shqipërisë, i cili nga ky gazsjellës do të përfitojë mbi 15 mijë punësime të reja në pesë vitet e ardhshme dhe mbi një miliard euro do të fitojë nga taksa e tranzitimit në 20 vitet në vijim. Tani për tani projekti TAP parasheh dy krahë të vetat: Krahu, i cili lidhet në tubin kryesor të gazsjellësit TAP në Greqi, vazhdon për në Bullgari (180 kilometra i gjatë) dhe i cili parashihet të vazhdojë përmes Rumanisë dhe Hungarisë në drejtim të Evropës Qendrore. Krahu tjetër, i ashtuquajturi-IAP (Ionian-Adriatic Pipelines), pra Gazsjellësi Adriatik–Jon, do të furnizonte Malin e Zi, Bosnjën e Hercegovinën dhe Kroacinë, kurse një shtesë e këtij krahu do të kalonte përmes Maqedonisë dhe Kosovës. Pa dilemë se ky projekt do të jetë tejet i rëndësishëm jo vetëm për zhvillimin e rajonit, por edhe për stabilizimin dhe integrimin e tij

Tnuva Co-op v. Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Employment

[This abstract is not part of the Court\u27s opinion and is provided for the reader\u27s convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.] The case concerns the question of once it was decided to order a party to pay costs, including attorney’s fees (hereinafter: costs), what is the standard for assessing the amount to be paid: whether “real” costs (that is costs expended by a party in actuality or that the party has committed to expend) or a different standard, such as reasonable expenses or minimal expenses. The Supreme Court held that the Civil Procedure Regulations afford the courts discretion as to whether to order costs, as well as to the matter of their amount. However, there is nothing in the language of the regulations to determine the ordinary standards according to which costs must be ordered and to determine with cost is necessary for conducting litigation. As a general rule, the law applicable in Israel – and in other countries is that the party who lost the judicial proceeding would be order to pay the costs of the party who prevailed. Ordering costs is a unique requirement, somewhat of a hybrid by nature – it is not a clearly tort based requirement and it is not punitive. Rather, it is a statutory requirement that grants the courts discretion. In any event, therefore, the mere requirement to pay costs does not indicate the amount that must be ordered. The general determination as to the responsibility to pay costs is based on balancing several purposes and fundamental principles: ensuring the right to access courts; protecting the individual’s right to property; equality between parties; and managing the resources of the judicial system. As a matter of principle, and as a point of departure, the winning party must be granted the payment of real costs, that is the actual expenditures that party made or had committed to make. However, a judge must exercise objective discretion and examine the amount of costs argued and consider whether these costs are reasonable, proportional, and necessary for the conducting of litigation considering the entirety of the matter’s circumstances. Recognizing ordering “real” costs as the default means that anyone arguing for costs carries the burden of demonstrating their actual amount, for instance by submitting an attorney’s fees agreement, detailing the work that was done on the case, explaining the foundation for the billing of fees and providing evidence of actual payments or invoices for fees. Once the actual costs have been detailed and proven, the burden shifts to the opposing party – who lost the ligitation – to show why the requested amount should not be ordered, considering the costs’ reasonability, necessity and proportionality. Generally, there is no place to distinguish between the state and any other litigant for the purposes of ordering the state to pay costs. It is true that ordering the State to pay costs is tantamount to ordering the public as a whole to pay them, but where the order to pay is justified and its amount is reasonable, the amount should not be reduced merely because it is the State who bears responsibility to pay them. Otherwise, the prevailing party bears the brunt of financing the litigation for the public as a whole. Though there is difficulty in proving actual expenditures made by the State, should it win the litigation and wish to assess its costs, there is no just cause for it not to be granted its reasonable costs considering the entirety of the circumstances in the matter. Under the circumstances, weight should be given to the fact that the procedure ended without a discussion on the merits, a short while after it was submitted; that the Petitioner did not submit the attorney’s fees agreement – which is important for assessing the reasonable attorney’s fees under the circumstances – and that the case itself is not particularly complex, factually or legally, and revolves around the reasonability of the public authority’s action in light of previous proceedings

Western Balkans and the Internal Integration Processes

With the European flag, Germany is making great efforts to effect the Western Balkans\u27 internal integration, but obviously the resistance from the countries of the region is very strong. Finally, the Americans are preparing to convince Western Balkan leaders, with the "stick and carrot", that their mutual integration in the region is not only beneficial for regional economic development but also for preserving world peace. Creating an economic or customs union would have multiple positive effects. The goal is to open a market of about twenty million people, which would vividly revive industry, commerce, agriculture, livestock, tourism, and so on. It would also greatly increase foreign investment. Above all, nations will have to come together in order to boost the region\u27s economic development, as well as regional peace and stability. Given the real conditions in the region, which are specific by their nature, the key questions arise - to what extent is this possible, what are the means and ways of achieving this, and in what dynamics is it likely to occur? To be able to give an appropriate answer to this complexity, we have primarily used the comparative analysis method, but also the method of critical review by several authors

On Aharon Barak\u27s Activist Image

This article was presented at the 2011 Symposium Honoring the Hon. Aharon Barak

“I was… Until… Since then…”: Exploring the Mechanisms of Selection in a Tragic Narrative

This paper presents a reading of Amos’s life story that follows an interpretive model based on mechanisms of narrative selection (Spector-Mersel, 2011). Drawing on the notion of the narrative paradigm, this model is derived from narrative epistemology, and specifically from a conceptualization of how identities are claimed through stories. The narrative production is conceived of as consisting of six mechanisms of selection, through which biographical facts are sorted, with the purpose of confirming an end point. Accordingly, the analysis seeks to identify the expressions of these mechanisms in the story, as a means to recognize the identity being claimed. The examination of the mechanisms of selection displayed in both the content and the form of Amos’s story reveals a split end point, which divides Amos’s life into “before” and “after” the stroke. The “I was” part strictly corresponds with the cultural ideal of a Sabra-Kibbutz member, depicting Amos’s prior self as a “culturally appropriate” and highly significant figure in his collective. In contrast, the “since then” part, which portrays the past 15 years since the stroke as an extended present, conveys his being “outside” of both the culture and the collective. Considering Amos’s story a clear instance of a tragic narrative, some insights are offered that can shed light on possible manifestations of this story genre

Imrei Chayim v. Wisel

The District Court annulled an arbitration award. A party wishes to appeal that decision in this Court. Section 38 of the Arbitration Law, 5728-1968 (hereinafter: the arbitration law) determines that a decision made pursuant to that law can be appealed by permission. The party argues before the Registrar of the Court that the appeal should be heard, despite that, as an appeal as of right, since section 17 of Basic Law: Judicature (hereinafter: the basic law) determines that a judgment of a court of the first instance can be appealed as of right, excepting a judgment of the Supreme Court , and in any case – so it is argued – section 38 of the arbitration law is unconstitutional. In light of these provisions, should it be determined that a party, wishing to appeal a decision pursuant to the arbitration law that was given by the District Court, has the right to appeal to this Court pursuant to the basic law, whereas that is a right that trumps section 38 of the arbitration law, and even leads to its unconstitutionality

The effect of stevia, emulsifier and milk powder on melting rate, hardness and overrun of ice cream formulations during storage

U okviru ovog istraživanja proizvedene su četiri različite vrste sladoleda upotrebom stevije (S), mlijeka u prahu (PP), emulgatora (PS) i punomansog (UHT) mlijeka. Svim uzrocima su određivani fizikalna, kemijska i senzorska svojstva. pH vrijednosti sladoleda kretale su se između 5,82 i 6,62, a čvrstoća od 3,40 do 598,61 N. Najviši stupanj prihvata zraka u sladolednu smjesu (29,27%) pokazao je sladoled oznake PP tijekom prvog tjedna skladištenja. Zamjena saharoze prahom stevije uzrokovao je značajan porast čvrstoće sladoleda.Four types of ice creams were manufactured using stevia (S), milk powder (PP), emulsifier (PS) and UHT whole milk (C), and were investigated for physical, chemical and sensory characteristics. The pH values of ice cream samples ranged from 5.82 to 6.62. The hardness values from textural analyses was around 3.40 and 598.61 N. The highest overrun ratio (29.27 %) was found in PP ice cream during the first week of storage. The substitution of sucrose by stevia powder led to a significant elevation of the hardness of ice cream

Viewing Let’s Plays How audiences interpret the commercial role of Let’s Plays on YouTube

In recent years, Let’s Plays on YouTube have been majorly popular. However, early access privilege has led to concerns that some Let’s Play content is biased. In order to study how viewers interpret the content, this thesis focused on how audiences of early access Let’s Play videos on YouTube interpret the commercial role of the videos. A qualitative approach was taken. The sample existed out of ten early access Let's Plays that were hand-picked based on certain requirements. Five top comments were non-randomly collected from each video, including the nested comments below them. This led to a sample of 543 collected comments, which were then analyzed through textual discourse analysis. A coding frame was created in order to help with this process, which can be explained with the help of precious literature. The results found that a large part of the viewers value early access Let’s Plays on YouTube for the social space that it provides to start discussions and share meanings. Furthermore, many viewers consider early access Let’s Plays to be good tools for gaining knowledge, whilst only a handful of viewers actually use the content to make purchasing decisions. The social community that can be found in the social space of this game paratext can lead to collective practices of meaning making and gaining knowledge. This enhances the gaming capital of the viewers, which defines who they are as gamers, and in turn the feelings of belonging and community strengthens. This type of community and socialization also helps keep the Let’s Play channels alive. Let’s Plays are dependent on the platform and users, and they are also governed by the gaming industry. Comments provided almost no scrutiny of the promotional aspect of the early access Let’s Play videos. Instead, early access preview of games has been portrayed as providers of knowledge and insight that they can use to make meanings and definitions within the social communities. Therefore, audiences interpret the commercial role of early access Let’s Plays as helpful tools to socialize and gain knowledge with. Early access provides a glance of what is new and what is yet to come, and this enhances the viewer’s understanding of games