The new EU Succession Regulation in a nutshell
Multinational families or individuals with assets in different states, for example a bank account or a holiday home abroad, have been faced with conflicting (private international) laws which have led to difficulties, delays and uncertainties both during the planning stage of a succession and following a death. Facing this situation, the new EU Succession Regulation (EU) No 650/20121 which is applicable since 17 August 2015 aims to ameliorate and simplify international inheritance rules. However, due to various uncertainties it consequently provides for new challenges in crossborder estate planning.2
ODSTUPANJA OD NAČELA JEDINSTVA NASLJEĐIVANJA U UREDBI EU-a O NASLJEĐIVANJU
Inheritance should be regulated by a predictable law that is closely connected to it. For the purpose of legal certainty and to avoid fragmentation of the succession, that law should regulate total inheritance, regardless of whether the property is situated in a Member State of the European Union or in a third state. EU Regulation on succession, in most cases, follows the principle of the unity of succession, however, it departs from it when a third country is involved in the inheritance proceeding. Thus, in cases related to third countries, the establishment of the correspondence between the jurisdiction and the applicable law has shown impossible, since the allocation of jurisdiction between the courts of the Member States in accordance with that Regulation does not take into account the possibility that in such cases the courts of third countries, with which inheritance has a significant link, have jurisdiction. In these cases, therefore, by division of jurisdiction on the courts of the Member State and the courts of third countries, it may come to fragmentation of succession, which entails the risk of parallel proceedings with possible different outcomes. The aim of the paper is to analyze in which cases the provisions of the Regulation result in fragmentation of succession and to suggest possible solutions. Finally, the proposed changes would enable the parties to agree that the courts of third countries of the chosen law have jurisdiction in settling the issue of inheritance, under the condition that these courts are then competent to decide on succession as a whole. In addition, the introduction of specific rules on the recognition and enforcement of decisions on succession issued by the courts of third countries in the Regulation would ensure greater uniformity in the treatment of these countries in relation to Member States and thus a greater degree of appreciation for a unified approach to succession.
An assessment of the Impact of Devolution on Women Empowerment in Nakuru County
-Women have been grossly marginalized in organs of decision-making and governance structures. The Constitution of Kenya has sought to bridge this gap by providing both women and men the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres. However, gender equality has not been achieved and women are still lagging in terms of decision making processes. The main objective of the study was to detemine the impact of devolution on women empowerment in Nakuru County. The study found that substantive women representation, development of programs and accessibility of services had a positive effect on the women empowerment in Nakuru County. The study also found out that increased accessibility of Services by women influenced women empowerment, this study also concludes that the introduction of development programs had the greatest impact on women empowerment in Nakuru County. The study recommends that more programs targeting women should be introduced as these have the greatest impact on women empowerment. The findings may be used to make conclusions and recommendations.