Möglichkeiten einer Verankerung der energiepolitischen Zielsetzung "Versorgungssicherheit" im österreichischen Elektrizitätsrecht

Zusammenfassung  Die im Nachfolgenden abgedruckte Studie wurde im Auftrag der Bundesarbeitskammer ?sterreich erstellt. Ihr Anliegen ist es, M?glichkeiten einer verst?rkten Verankerung der energiepolitischen Zielsetzung "Versorgungssicherheit" im ?sterreichischen Elektrizit?tsrecht auszuloten. Auf Basis des geltenden gemeinschaftsrechtlichen Rechtsrahmens, werden Spielr?ume, die sich für eine Regelung von Aspekten der Versorgungssicherheit nutzen lassen, ermittelt und entsprechende rechtspolitische Vorschl?ge erarbeitet. Die Studie gliedert sich nach den drei Marktstufen des Elektrizit?tssektors: der Ebene der Erzeugung, des Netzbetriebs und der Lieferung (Versorgung mit Strom). Die Rechtslage, Entscheidungspraxis der Regulierungsbeh?rden, Gerichtsentscheidungen und Literatur sind auf dem Stand April 2008 verarbeitet.     

Interdisciplinary cooperation of forensic sciences--results of a simulation exercise

In a workshop held on the occasion of the foundation of the INFW, the Interdisciplinary Network of Forensic Sciences (www.infw.org), 14 scientists from 10 fields of expertise were allotted to 3 teams. Each team had to independently solve the same fictitious forensic case. In this, several corpses or skeletons in varying degrees of decomposition were found in the remains of an old bunker during a large building project. After a set time limit of 45 minutes, the approaches to the task were noted on individual flipcharts by each team. A comparison of the solutions suggested by the three very heterogeneously composed teams revealed a high degree of similarity. However, particularly the "exotic" disciplines developed surprising approaches. The experiment was an interesting and instructive experience for all participants and underscores the necessity of interdisciplinary cooperation in solving complex forensic questions.     

Setting the Path for the UNWCC: The Representation of European Exile Governments on the London International Assembly and the Commission for Penal Reconstruction and Development, 1941–1944

This article discusses the development of the UNWCC and the intellectuals involved. It notes the commitment that smaller Allied states made to frame international criminal law with regard to war crimes. The article pays particular attention to two Czech delegates who stood out from the community of experts, and who were instrumental in formalizing how war crimes committed in Europe during the Second World War – and beyond – should be handled. The concept of crimes against humanity became a main outcome of the legal debates, serving not only as a blueprint for the London Charter, but the international criminal law system as a whole. The predecessors of the UNWCC, involving some of the most renowned lawyers of the time, formed one of the first truly transnational networks. Moreover, the experiences of the lawyers, and their framing of that experience in lengthy memorandums, helped to generate a new concept in politics: the protection of human rights.     

Situational variables or beliefs? A multifaceted approach to understanding blame attributions

Are victim and perpetrator blame attributions affected more by situational-specific variables or observers’ basic motives and personal beliefs? In three experiments, varying the scenario setting, the effects of victim and participant age, participant gender, sympathy for the victim, trust in the justice system, belief in a just world and acceptance of rape myths were investigated. In total, 877 Swedish adolescents and adults read scenarios reflecting common acquaintance rape situations. Victim age (18 or 31) was manipulated, but did not affect attributed blame. Effects of participant age and gender varied markedly across the three experiments. Sympathy for the victim and acceptance of rape myths were stronger predictors than belief in a just world. Consistently, blame attributions were found to be more affected by personal beliefs than situational-specific variables.     

Party Platforms and Public Childcare: Structural and Ideational Factors Shaping Policy in Norway and Sweden

While the Scandinavian countries are well‐known for their gender‐egalitarian policies, there are important intra‐Scandinavian policy differences. Through a comparative‐historical analysis of Norway and Sweden, this article illustrates how structural factors (economic and political) and ideational factors (gender and religion) interact and combine to produce the particular national policy outcomes in the post‐ Second World War period, using public childcare as a comparative case study. The economic developments pursued by the countries in the postwar period are key to understanding the political party dynamics, the perpetuation (or lack thereof) of religious and centre‐periphery cleavages, as well as the change in the political leadership's gender‐ideological orientations, and the consequences of these factors for the evolution of public childcare policy. Norway has no institutionalised childcare guarantee, private ownership of childcare is high and religion plays a role in the national preschool curriculum. In contrast, Sweden has a binding national childcare guarantee, public ownership remains high and religion plays no role in the preschool curriculum. The policy differences are theoretically interesting as factors commonly hypothesised as important to gender‐egalitarian policy outcome – on their own, or combined – cannot explain these differences. Thus, this article contributes important knowledge about the causal mechanisms behind gender‐egalitarian policy development. The study fills a gap in the comparative welfare state literature by showing how structural and ideational factors are mutually reinforcing.     

A study to narrow down the time when a hyoid bone fracture was sustained

An unstable hyoid bone that can be loosely moved during autopsy is initial reason to suspect trauma to the neck. The question to be answered is whether the increased mobility is due to incomplete ossification of the hyoid, a postmortem injury (damage), or an ante-mortem injury, possibly related to the cause of death. This is the first study to systematically assess whether stereomicroscopic examinations and flat-panel CT-scans of isolated, unstable hyoid bones can add information to the macroscopic examination by helping to determine when the instability arose. Sixteen isolated hyoid bones (8 female, 8 male; 4-87 years-old) were examined after being macerated. Four of the hyoid bones were already classified as unstable during autopsy. Of the other 12, 7 were fractured immediately after autopsy before being macerated, and 5 were fractured after being macerated. There were, in total, six different diagnostic constellations. Stereo-microscopic examination did not yield additional information compared with the macroscopic examination. Flat-panel CT allowed distinction between an incomplete ossification of the hyoid and a fracture, but did not help in determining whether the fracture had been sustained peri- or postmortem.     

Crime Victims and the Social Services: Social Workers' Viewpoint

The aim of this article is to analyse how social workers in the social services describe crime victims and their role in supporting these victims. Based on focus groups with social workers in the social services, it is established that social workers discriminate between a categorical understanding of crime victims and an assessment of individuals in need. The categorical understanding of crime victims is connected to weakness and innocence, and the discussions are constructed with a focus on women and children. However, when the social workers move beyond this idea and describe individual victims of crime they have met, they attribute a more complicated picture and acknowledge the complexity of crime and victimization. The social workers give themselves a vague role regarding support to victims of crime. They consider themselves as able to connect individuals in need with helping resources, but they do not regard themselves as resources in this area. According to the social workers, an individual should not receive support from the social services just because he or she is categorized by them as a victim of crime. One conclusion is that the category ‘crime victims’ has not gained acceptance among the social workers.