Vol. 17 No. 2 (2025): LeXonomica

This publication is financially supported by ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency

Izdajo publikacije finančno podpira ARIS - Javna agencija za znanstvenoraziskovalno in inovacijsko dejavnost Republike Slovenije

Editorial

Before you is the Vol. 17, No. 2 (2025) issue of LeXonomica journal, containing four scientific articles addressing current legal and economic issues.

The first article (“Time-varying Granger Causality Between Health Care and Economic Activity in the United States”) written by Silvo Dajčman & Dejan Romih, analyses the time-varying relationship between health care and economic activity in the United States, filling a gap in the literature. Using time-varying Granger causality, the study provides empirical evidence of a time-varying causal relationship between health care spending and industrial production, which has important policy implications. The COVID-19 epidemic has led to the need to analyse the relationship between health care and the economy.

The second article (“Enforcement and Enforceability of Court Settlements in the European Union”) written by Martina Smojver, analyses the challenges which persist due to varying regulation and understanding of court settlements at the national level, as well as due to the ambiguities in the EU’s cross-border enforcement rules, leading to potential misinterpretations in practice. Thus, the paper aims to explore what exactly constitutes a ‘court settlement’, both at the national and at the EU level. Based on this definition, it then examines the EU regulatory framework, specifically within the selected EU regulations, to assess whether further improvements are necessary.

The third article (“Navigating Through Habitual Residence Determination”) written by Ines Medić & Josipa Begić, examines the private international law concept of habitual residence. Within the private international law area today, habitual residence seems to be omnipresent. Almost irrespective of the context, there seems to be no more appealing connecting factor than a habitual residence. The article provides an overview of the development of the concept, both in theory and in case law, with the aim of consolidating existing knowledge and seeking answers to the remaining questions.

The fourth article (“The Constitutionality of the Non-Recognition of Domestic Partnerships in South Africa: Revisited”) written by Razaana Denson, analyses the legal issue of Domestic Partnerships recognition in South Africa. Currently, there is an increasing number of couples who choose to live together without formalizing their relationship in the eyes of the law. These relationships where couples live together and set up a common household are referred to as domestic partnerships. South African family law only affords legal protection and recognition to civil marriages solemnised in terms of statutory law. The protection afforded to civil marriages does not extend to domestic partnerships. The question which arises is whether the law’s refusal to grant legal recognition and protection to domestic partnerships can be regarded as unconstitutional.

You are kindly invited to read on!