Wrongful birth and the politics of reproduction: West German and English law considered

This article considers the law relating to compensation in tort and contract for failed sterilizations and failed abortions leading to the birth of an unplanned but healthy child in the Federal Republic of Germany and England. It uses a policy-based analysis which takes the social construction of gender as a significant factor in judicial decision making. It criticizes existing literature for failing to take into account gender divisions in society and points to ways in which both the framework within which wrongful birth cases are discussed generally and the limitations which have been placed on recovery specifically reflect gender stereotyped notions of female and male behaviour and sexuality. I conclude that there are three main areas of concern in the wrongful birth cases: a) the inadequate recognition which the law accords to women's work in the home when awarding damages for maintenance of the unplanned child to majority; b) the awarding damages exercised by the politics of abortion, which can lead to undue restrictions on recovery; and c) the difficulties which the law experiences when attempting to conceptualize an interference in a woman's procreative autonomy in the same terms as an interference in a typically 'male' sphere of life, such as professional autonomy. Thus there is an urgent need to reconsider the categories of the law of obligations such as 'damage' and 'compensation', which are central to the principle of individual responsibility for harm caused, in order to reveal their gendered content and differential effects.     

Free movement of law students and lawyers in the EU: a comparison of English,German and Greek legislation

This article focuses on the linked themes of mobility within the European Union for law students and for lawyers. It highlights obstacles to cross-border legal education and legal practice across three Member States: England and Wales, Germany, and Greece. The European legal framework is outlined. The implications of recent case law of the European Court of Justice, on the conditions of access to higher education and financial support, are considered. Three main areas of concern are identified: admission arrangements; student finance; and the professional recognition of qualifications. The article compares the approach of the three Member States in each of these areas and explores conflicts between their domestic law provisions and European Union law. The article concludes by identifying ways in which ‘Europeanisation’ of legal education and the legal profession could be encouraged by facilitating law student mobility and by modernising the law curriculum.     

德国民法上的违法性理论研究

自德国法学家耶林提出违法性与过错的区分之后,这一观点就支配了德国立法和理论。虽然有学者质疑区分的意义,但二者的区分还是非常必要的。在德国民法理论上,违法性判断理论有结果不法说、行为不法说和折衷说。较之于其他两种学说,折衷说具有较多的优点,不过,折衷说的采纳,必须以作为侵权不作为侵权和直接侵权间接侵权的区分为前提。折衷说还可能导致有些情况下过失判断标准和违法性判断标准的趋同,但这并不意味着我们一定要采纳“内在注意”和“外在注意”区分的理论。     

Recent developments in German health law

Health law provides the regulatory constitution for the medical and healthcare system. It covers individual medical treatment as well as public healthcare provision and is insofar medical law as well as social security law (statutory health insurance law). The medical and health sciences (public health sciences) are the main complementary disciplines of health law. This article gives an account of some representative developments in both fields which have taken place in the last three years.     

Voting rules in insolvency law: a simple-game theoretic approach

A chief characteristic of modern insolvency law in Canada, Germany, the UK, and the US is the provision for ‘workouts’ or ‘schemes of arrangement’ by which insolvent companies can attempt to rehabilitate the business. If reorganization is chosen, the debtor has to devise a plan of action which will be voted upon by claimants. The voting rules, however, differ in each jurisdiction to a greater or lesser extent and as yet have not been analyzed in any rigorous manner. This paper provides an approach based upon the theory of simple games to analyze the rules in terms of the ease which each of these regimes can pass (or hinder) plans and how these rules distribute value among claimants. We pay particular attention to the role of classification and the effect of coalition formation.     

Consent forms in genomics: the difference between law and practice

Consent forms are the principal method for obtaining informed consent from biomedical research participants. The significance of these forms is increasing as more secondary research is undertaken on existing research samples and information, and samples are deposited in biobanks accessible to many researchers. We reviewed a selection of consent forms used in European Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and identified four common elements that were found in every consent form. Our analysis showed that only two of the four most commonly found elements in our sample of informed consent forms were required in UK law. This raises questions about what should be put in informed consent forms for research participants. These findings could be beneficial for the formulation of participant information and consent documentation in the future studies.     

德国刑事诉讼法中的证据使用禁止

本文从批判性的视角概述了德国刑事诉讼法中关于证据采纳或者说是关于证据禁止的问题。证据禁止区分为非自主性证据使用禁止和自主性证据使用禁止。非自主性证据使用禁止可能是由于公诉中初步侦查时的取证错误导致的。就是否适用非自主性证据使用禁止这一问题,德国司法官会从几个方面加以考虑,例如,犯罪的严重性或者是取证错误的严重性。自主性证据使用禁止是由于侵犯了个人隐私。例如,私人日记不能作为证据使用。     

德国海商法的改革及评价

2013年4月25日,新修订的德国海商法正式生效.回顾历史上的历次修订情况,采取纵向比较的方法,力图展现德国海商法发展的全貌,重点论述了本次最新修订的内容.在2008年通过《鹿特丹规则》的大背景下,考察《鹿特丹规则》对本次德国海商法修订的核心内容——海上货物运输的影响.本次修订后,新法具有结构体系化、内容精简化的特征,但本次修订的内容是否能为航运实践认可尚不确定.     

Limitation of medical research in German law.

In Germany, pharmaceutical trials and the testing of medical devices is regulated by statute. Any other kind of medical experimentation is handled according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Medical experimentation has to be reviewed by an ethics committee before the start and there has to be an elaborate research protocol, which provides for the protection of the experimental subject. In case of an accident, there is compulsory accident insurance as far as pharmaceutical trials and the testing of medical devices are concerned. The third party accident insurance just covers material loss, there is no provision paying and suffering. The sum paid by the insurance company is set off against damages for negligence. There is no strict liability for medical experimentation, but the German courts are expected to set very high standards for medical care in experimentation. The data protection and medical confidentiality have been lessened because of the European law that requires the experimental subject to give his consent to the inspection of the data or the file and if he takes part in the experimentation, that his data and some of his cells might be with the pharmaceutical company forever. In general, the German law seems to be adequate to the protection of experimental subjects.     

Comparing civil law and common law systems for mergers and acquisitions An economic analysis

＂From the economic point of view, common law is more efficient than civil law.＂ Is this recent statement published in an economic report valid for mergers and acquisitions （M＆A）？ The main objective of this paper is to compare the legal performance of M＆A in France and in the United States. The purpose is to quantify the impact of both legal systems on the long-term performance of M＆A transactions. To carry out this research, a specific methodology was developed and the results of which are evaluated. Two legal structures for M＆A transactions were retained： the purchase of shares （share deal）, and the purchase of assets （asset deal）. Each of these acquisition structures was then subdivided into eleven steps composing the process, for example from preliminary information, letter of intent, due diligence, stock or asset purchase agreement, closing, to litigation with formal summons. Performance was then measured by taking into account time, cost, and satisfaction factors. The time factor was broken down into person-days and the number of days, weeks, or months required to complete each step. French and U.S. respondents were asked to fill out a questionnaire with reference to a specific acquisition project. A typical question was for instance： What is your estimate of working days to complete this step （person-days）？ Radar charts were used to compare the mean of each performance factor. In order to check for correlations among the performance factors, an inter-factors analysis （regression） was carried out. The research findings are presented in this paper. Results show that a share deal in France is generally cheaper and participants indicate a significantly greater amount of satisfaction than in the U.S. However, for the time factor, the results vary. The conclusion is that the application of the civil code rather than common law does not reveal substantial differences as far as M＆A transactions are concerned. One reason is that in both France and the U.S. these transactions are carried out following standard procedures in compliance with common contractual practices.