https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/131550 2026-05-27T18:25:19Z 2026-05-27T18:25:19Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146608 2026-05-20T13:17:32Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Evolving protections in collective redundancies : analysing recent ECJ decisions and their impact on employers, employees, and trade unions in EU labour law Abstract: The Collective Redundancies Directive (98/59/EC) remains a central instrument of European labour law, balancing the employer’s freedom to restructure with the protection of employees against the consequences of large-scale dismissals. This dissertation analyses how the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has shaped the Directive through its jurisprudence and examines the resulting impact on national legal systems, with Germany and Malta serving as case studies. The study demonstrates that the CJEU has expanded the Directive’s scope and clarified key concepts such as “worker”, “dismissal”, “establishment” and “controlling undertaking”. Landmark rulings including Junk v Kühnel, Balkaya, Bichat, AEK, Resorts Mallorca and MO v SM illustrate the Court’s role in strengthening procedural safeguards and reinforcing consultation obligations. While these judgments promote uniform protection, they also create tensions for employers, particularly in jurisdictions where national traditions diverge from the Court’s interpretation. The comparative analysis reveals significant differences in implementation. German law provides strong worker protection but generates uncertainty and litigation risks through its complex procedures and strict sanctions. Maltese law, by contrast, offers efficiency and predictability, though often at the expense of meaningful worker participation. These findings highlight the Directive’s partial harmonisation and the continuing variation in worker protection across Member States. The dissertation concludes that reform is necessary to ensure clarity, proportionality, and effectiveness. Recommendations include harmonising sanctions, clarifying definitions, enhancing consultation rights, and addressing challenges posed by digitalisation, platform work, and cross-border restructurings. Future research should explore the role of European Works Councils, the impact of algorithmic management, and protections for non-standard workers. The Directive, while pioneering, requires recalibration to remain fit for today’s labour markets and to maintain a fair balance between flexibility for employers and protection for workers. Description: LL.M.(Melit.)

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146606 2026-05-20T13:14:45Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The role of virtual asset service providers in money laundering : a comparative analysis of regulatory frameworks in Turkey and the EU Abstract: The rise of crypto-assets has transformed the global financial landscape, creating both opportunities for innovation and risks to financial integrity. As exchanges, custodians, and other intermediaries emerged to facilitate the trading, storage, and transfer of these assets, regulators confronted the challenge of extending anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks to an industry defined by anonymity, borderless transactions, and rapid technological change. This dissertation will examine the legal regimes that govern CASPs in their role as intermediaries within the crypto-asset ecosystem. The European Union operationalized these standards through successive directives and, more recently, through directly applicable regulations such as the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and the Transfer of Funds Regulation. Türkiye, under pressure from its FATF grey-listing, incorporated CASPs into its AML legislation, strengthened sanctions compliance, and ultimately embedded them within capital markets law, backed by detailed MASAK notices and Capital Markets Board Regulations. After comprehensively evaluating the legal frameworks any gaps or shortcomings will be addressed and their potential impact and real world applications will be provided. One of which is the current exclusion of decentralized exchanges which if stays unregulated could have catastrophic adverse effects just as the previous FTX crisis. Description: LL.M.(Melit.)

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146604 2026-05-20T13:11:29Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: A new ‘green’ era for the EU : what role for competition law? Abstract: This dissertation explores the intersection of EU competition law and sustainability, asking whether the current framework can coherently integrate environmental objectives without undermining legal certainty, consistency, and effective enforcement. It focuses on the structural tension between competition law’s traditional price-centred objectives and EU’s constitutional commitment to sustainability. The dissertation is centred around competition law’s three pillars, and analyses how sustainability agreements are treated under the more flexible Article 101 TFEU and EU Merger Regulation, and the rigid Article 102 TFEU. The study moreover identifies enforcement inconsistencies, focusing on the progressive Dutch ACM, the radical Austria and the more cautious Bundeskartellamt, alongside a comparative analysis of the more progressive UK CMA. It reviews academic sources to highlight concerns about fragmented enforcement and the lack of consistent legal methodology. The findings underline the limits of the current framework in accommodating sustainability and point to the need for reinterpretation or reform to ensure coherence between competition law and EU’s wider constitutional objectives. Description: LL.M.(Melit.)

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/140679 2025-10-28T14:28:57Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The reconciliation of conflicting human rights before courts having criminal jurisdiction Abstract: This study deals with some conflicts which arise during the pendency of criminal proceedings. The object which is the subject of such conflict is a right protected by law. The study considers conflicts arising between human rights belonging to stakeholders pendente lite, meaning throughout criminal proceedings, i.e. as stated in the title of the dissertation ‘before Courts having criminal jurisdiction’. Such conflicts are detected in this study, after which the author proposes methods to attempt to reconcile such conflicts in a manner which upholds the respect for fundamental rights of the stakeholders, be they victims, witnesses, or the accused. The dissertation deals with some facets of the right to a fair trial, all of which are revealed in the following research questions: I. Can the right to a public hearing be restricted? II. Can the presumption of innocence of the accused be breached by prejudicial pre-trial publicity? III. Can rights of victims be prejudiced by the judicial admission of crimes for the purposes of the obtainment of plea-bargains? The author suggests that Article 517 of the Criminal Code be re-drafted by inserting the words ‘or of the complainant or any witness’ after the words ‘or of the party charged or accused’. Article 391 of the Criminal Code fails to mention specific requirements which the prosecution must prove to secure witness protection and anonymity. The author proposes that certain requirements be explicitly included in Maltese Law. The author heavily criticized the half-baked parliamentary measure to the effect that only drug trafficking cases were spared the applicability of the proviso to Article 436(6) of the Criminal Code by virtue of clause 3 to Act VII of 2025 which came into effect on 17 March 2025. No change has been effected in so far as the crime of willful homicide is concerned. Description: LL.B.(Hons)(Melit.)

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z