The ADA on the Road: Disability Rights in Germany

This paper examines the impact of a "disability rights model" on the emerging disability rights movement in Germany. Traditional German disability politics and activism are based on the expansion of welfare and special needs provisions rather than on equal rights and integration. Inspired by the 1990 Americans with Disability Act, German activists adopted a disability rights model and successfully worked toward the passage of a constitutional equality amendment in 1994 and ant-discrimination legislation in 2002. Using the literature on rights mobilization, this paper argues that German disability activists use rights talk to both support and contest culturally specific approaches to disability rights, equal treatment, and the role of the state in guaranteeing welfare rights. The globalization of disability rights should not be viewed as an imposition of American norms but as a more complex process of adaptation and cultural transformation that involves constructing locally legitimate approaches to disability rights with an American import.     

Path Dependencies in European Integration: A Constructive Response to German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer

There is no doubt about the political necessity of the Eastern enlargement of the European Union and corresponding reforms of its political institutions. By contrast, the shape and content of these reforms is a subject that is highly contested between the member states. In this context, when the German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, presented his vision of future development for Europe his ideas were refreshingly welcome. However, Fischer's ideas imply, in many respects, a turning away from hitherto accepted paths to European integration. The main claim we want to make in this paper is that, against the backdrop of this breach with the present European-level institutional system, the chance that the Fischer initiatives could come to political fruition must be viewed with scepticism. On the basis of this finding, which rests essentially upon a historical-institutionalist analysis, we develop an alternative concept for a European constitution.     

Agency dynamics of International Environmental Agreements: actors,contexts, and drivers

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - The structural elements of global environmental governance are notoriously difficult to change and align with the needs of a...     

War Crimes Prosecution in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-2002): An Analysis through the Jurisprudence of the Human Rights Chamber

The authors examine the efforts to bring persons suspected ofwar crimes committed during the 1992–1995 war in Bosniaand Herzegovina (BiH) to justice before the national judiciary.The analysis is based on the case law of the Human Rights Chamberfor BiH, which from 1996–2003 was the highest court competentto adjudicate violations of human rights in post-war BiH. TheChamber heard complaints linked to war-time atrocities fromtwo main perspectives: (i) that of persons put on trial forwar crimes and (ii) the perspective of the relatives of war-crimesvictims complaining about the failure to investigate and prosecute.The Chamber cases establish that (a) the few prosecutions whichtook place were nearly exclusively directed against suspectsbelonging to the war-time adversary, (b) the authorities failedto comply with the Rules of the Road (a procedure put in placeto enable the International Criminal Tribunal for the formerYugoslavia (ICTY) to supervise Bosnian war-crimes prosecutions)and (c) suspects were often severely ill-treated to extort confessionsand denied a fair trial. The rule, however, was the lack ofany investigatory or prosecutorial action, with the exceptionof the so-called ‘ethnically mixed’ Cantons of theFederation of BiH, where proceedings were sometimes initiatedbut failed to yield an appreciable outcome. The authors discussthree reasons for the poor record: (i) ethnic bias among theauthorities, (ii) disempowerment and passivity of the victimsand (iii) failure to enact legislation that would give effectto and clarify the BiH side of the obligation to exercise jurisdictionconcurrently with the ICTY. They finally set forth some suggestionson lessons to be learned for future attempts to bring justiceto a war-torn society by the concurrent exercise of criminaljurisdiction by an international court and the judiciary ofthe country in transition.     

Synthetic cannabinoids in "spice-like" herbal blends: First appearance of JWH-307 and recurrence of JWH-018 on the German market

Herbal smoking blends, available on the German market were analyzed and several known synthetic cannabinoids were identified (JWH-122 and JWH-018). In addition, we isolated a new active ingredient by silica gel column chromatography and elucidated the structure by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods. The compound was identified as JWH-307, a synthetic cannabinoid of the phenyl-pyrrole subclass with known in vitro binding affinities for cannabinoid receptors. To date, this is the first appearance of this subclass of cannabimimetics in such products. JWH-307 has been further characterized by gas chromatography accurate mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS), electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS), ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. JWH-018 was among the first compounds banned by many countries world-wide including Germany. The identification of JWH-018 was striking, since this is the first report where JWH-018 recurred on the German market thus violating existing laws. A generic method was established to quantify synthetic cannabinoids in herbal smoking blends. Quantification was achieved using an isotopically labeled standard (JWH-018-D(3)). JWH-018 was found at a level of 150mg/g while JWH-122 and JWH-307 occurred as a mixture at a total level of 232mg/g.     

Rechtliche Einordnung von Grünbrücken bei Aus- und Neubauten sowie bestehenden Bundesfernstraßen

Natur und Recht - Angesichts der enormen Zerschneidungswirkung von Bundesfernstraßen werden Grünbrücken in der Bundesrepublik vermehrt errichtet, sodass sich die Frage der...     

The spaces of intervention for Mali and Guinea-Bissau

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on interventions by the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States in Guinea-Bissau and Mali. In the literature, these are often approached in a ‘top-down’ manner, focusing on formal institutions, not accounting for the complex dynamics in and around conflict intervention. This article argues that adopting space as an analytical lens allows new ways to address these issues. It highlights how interventions by different actors and their interactions are influenced by spatial perceptions and framings, which result in the making of different ‘spaces of intervention’ through different practices. The two described here, ‘scaling’ and ‘establishing reach’, enable strategic and continuous formation and negotiation of spaces for action, according to actors’ needs and interests. Thus, shedding light on specific actors and their practices, the article contributes to a better understanding of the complex dynamics in conflict intervention in West Africa.