Die Reform des nationalen Artenschutzrechts mit Blick auf das Urteil des EuGH v. 10.1.2006 in der Rs. C-98/03 (NuR 2006, 166)

Der Europ?ische Gerichtshof hat mit seinem Urteil vom 10.1.2006 die Bundesrepublik Deutschland wegen unzureichender Umsetzung von Art. 12 Abs. 1 lit. d sowie Art. 16 FFHRL durch § 43 Abs. 4 BNatSchG verurteilt. Damit wird nach der Caretta-Entscheidung des EuGH vom 30.1.2002 zum zweiten Mal innerhalb kurzer Zeit das System des deutschen Artenschutzrechts in Frage gestellt. Der Bundesgesetzgeber ist nun gefordert, das nationale Recht entsprechend anzupassen. Die nachfolgende Betrachtung nimmt zun?chst die Vorschrift des § 43 Abs. 4 BNatSchG in den Blick und pl?diert für deren Ausgestaltung als Abweichung im Sinn der Ausnahmeregelungen der FFH- und Vogelschutz-Richtlinie. Weiter beleuchtet sie den Vollzug des Artenschutzrechts im Rahmen der naturschutzrechtlichen Eingriffsregelung und spricht sich für eine Verankerung der Richtlinienvorgaben in § 19 BNatSchG aus.     

Ecological Belief in a Just World

To date, there is considerable evidence that the perception of injustice influences environmental behavior in a positive way. Nevertheless, some people do not take action, even if the injustice seems obvious. Concerning this matter, approaches like the belief in a just world theory or system justification theory provide an explanation. However, so far, there is no scientific research on whether the perception of ecological justice, which is taken for granted, concerning an ecological belief in a just world (EBJW) may lead to differences in people’s environmental behavior. This paper investigates a newly conceived construct of the EBJW, regarding its occurrence as well as its disposition in the context of other constructs. Therefore, a new scale has been developed for the purpose of this study by means of a questionnaire with German citizens (n = 312) examining motives for energy-relevant behavior. The scale analyses confirm the validity of the new scale. Even though the EBJW did not score high in the total sample, possibly due to significant differences between the participants (particularly socio-demographic variables and different group memberships) it can be stated that there is definitely a relationship between the EBJW and justification arguments and, ultimately, a lack of responsibility for energy saving. Regression analyses reveal that the EBJW, together with cognitive and affective appraisals of justice, can explain energy-relevant commitment, such as engagement in behavior that has negative impact on the climate. Based on these findings, it is suggested that the EBJW is measurable and that it seems to warrant further research.     

Recognition of previous eyewitness testimony from an altered interrogation protocol: Potential effects of distortions

Abstract

The effect of protocol presentation on witnesses’ tendency to point out errors in a transcribed version of their verbal testimony was examined in two experiments. Participants were shown a film depicting a robbery and were subsequently questioned. In the process of typing out the testimony, there were six distortions entered into the protocol. When participants were asked to check the content for approval, they either listened to the experimenter reading the protocol out aloud, or read it on their own. The results showed that witnesses who had listened to the content being read to them pointed out significantly fewer distortions, and suggest that protocol presentation may have important implications for the justice system.     

The role of agriculture in economic development: Visible and invisible surplus transfers

The financial surplus of agriculture has been central to theories of the role of agriculture in economic development. Morrisson and Thorbecke (MT) have used a constant‐price social accounting matrix (SAM) framework to measure rigorously the financial surplus of agriculture and decompose the mechanisms of surplus extraction. History and theory have, however, stressed the role of prices as an invisible transfer mechanism in addition to the visible transfers identified in the SAM framework. We extend the MT approach by defining and measuring the real surplus of agriculture and decomposing the mechanisms of surplus extraction between visible and invisible financial transfers. Using an archetype computable general equilibrium model for poor African nations, we trace the generation, transfer, and use of an agricultural surplus created by a productivity gain in agriculture. This shows that prices indeed play an overwhelmingly important role in transferring a surplus from agriculture to the benefit of the rest of the economy.     

Russian military patriotic education: a control tool against the arbitrariness of veterans

The military had been concerned about military patriotic education for a long time when Putin's Patriotic Education Programme was published. As soon as the collapse of the Soviet Union occurred, followed a few years later by the creation of the Russian armed forces, they had already been developing patriotic education programmes aimed primarily at youth, aided by veterans of local wars, both volunteers and recruits. The aim of this article is to show that the military version of patriotic education aims openly to encourage military service, and that the Russian state will try to enlist veterans of the Afghanistan and Chechen wars in activities linked to military patriotic education and its spread in military and civilian spheres. Our hypothesis is that the determination to bring veterans together around a common project has two aims: (1) to federate veterans around the authorities and (2) to channel a population that escapes government control and some of whose excesses on their return to civilian life (violence towards the population in the context of their function, for veterans of the Interior Ministry in particular) have darkened the image of the ministries known as the “power” ministries.