Shells and Bones: A Forensic Medicine Study of the Association of Terrestrial Snail Allopeas micra with Buried Human Remains in Brazil

Little is known regarding the scavenger fauna associated with buried human corpses, particularly in clandestine burials. We report the presence of 20 shells of the terrestrial snail Allopeas micra, within hollow bones of human remains buried for 5 years, during the process of collecting DNA material. The fact that a large number of shells of A. micra had been found in the corpse and in the crime scene supports the assumption that there was no attempt to remove the corpse from the area where the crime occurred. Despite this, our observations cannot be used to estimate the postmortem interval because there is no precise knowledge about the development of this species. This is the first record of a terrestrial snail associated with a human corpse and its role in this forensic medicine case.     

Government Selection and Executive Powers: Constitutional Design in Parliamentary Democracies

Provisions for a parliamentary investiture vote have become increasingly common in parliamentary democracies. This article shows that investiture provisions were largely introduced when new constitutions were written or old ones fundamentally redesigned. It also shows that the constitutions that endowed executives with strong legislative agenda powers also endowed parliaments with strong mechanisms to select the executive. It is argued that constitution makers’ decisions can be seen in principal–agent terms: strong investiture rules constitute an ex ante mechanism of parliamentary control – that is, a mechanism to minimise adverse selection and reduce the risk of agency loss by parliament. The findings have two broad implications: from a constitutional point of view, parliamentary systems do not rely exclusively on ex post control mechanisms such as the no confidence vote to minimise agency loss; parliamentarism, at least today and as much as presidentialism, is the product of conscious constitutional design and not evolutionary adaptation.     

Portugal

European Journal of Political Research -     

Biotechnology and relevant aspects of the New Biosafety law]

On 24 March 2005, the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil approved the New Law on Biosecurity. This law has very diverse aspects, ranging from the genetically modified organisms to the genetic manipulation of human embryos or the liberalisation of the transgenic soy crops during 2004-2005. This article tries to analyse and criticise the content of the law, highlighting the genetic research and experimentation, the GMOs and their effect in the environment and the criminal responsibility derived from such actions. Likewise, it leaves rooms for the reader to reach his/her own conclusions. The author poses the moral dilemma on whether it is legitimate to make governmental decisions solely taking into account the economic and political interests, leaving aside the opinion of society.     

Roman and Catholic and American: The transformation of Catholicism in the United States

This paper serves as a preliminary study for an analysis of the public role which the American Catholic Bishops assumed in the 1980s. The analysis is part of a broader, forthcoming study,Public Religions in the Modern World, which includes also studies of Catholicism in Spain, Poland, and Brazil, and a study of Protestant Fundamentalism.     

Erhöhung der Darlegungslast für FFH-Verträglichkeitsprüfung und Abweichungsentscheidung durch das BVerwG

Die Anforderungen an die Zulassung von Infrastrukturvorhaben sind in den letzten Jahren erheblich gestiegen. Ben?tigte der Planfeststeller vor 20 Jahren noch 20 Seiten für einen Planfeststellungsbeschluss, k?nnen es heute schon mal 500 Seiten für eine Ortsumgehung sein. Dementsprechend ist es nicht verwunderlich, wenn das hier zu besprechende Urteil des Bundesverwaltungsgerichts (BVerwG) die Form einer kleinen Monographie einschlie?lich des Inhaltsverzeichnisses annimmt. Die Ursachen sind sichtbar und weithin bekannt. Auf der tats?chlichen Seite liegen sie in der Versch?rfung der Nutzungskonflikte durch die zunehmende Verdichtung der Infrastrukturnetze sowie Siedlungs- und Gewerbefl?chen, dem zunehmenden Umweltbewusstsein der Bev?lkerung und dem Aufbau eines europ?ischen Schutzgebietsnetzes. Auf der rechtlichen Seite wirkt sich die immer tiefer greifende Europ?isierung des deutschen Rechts auf das Fachplanungsrecht aus. Diese Entwicklung in den letzten Jahren hat gezeigt, dass sich das Fachplanungsrecht zwar gegen die verfahrensrechtlichen Anforderungen des Gemeinschaftsrechts durch Regelungen zur Verfahrensbeschleunigung weitgehend zur Wehr setzen kann; die materiellrechtlichen Anforderungen greifen aber und verl?ngern auf ihre Weise die Verfahren. Das von der Abw?gung bestimmte Fachplanungsrecht wird schleichend durch zwingende gemeinschaftsrechtliche Vorgaben ver?ndert. Eine dieser Normen – die auch im Mittelpunkt der Entscheidung des BVerwG steht – ist die Fauna-Flora-Habitat-Richtlinie (FFH-RL).