Beseitigungsanspruch gegen den unredlichen Bauführer bei geringfügigem Grenzüberbau

Au?erbücherlicher Eigentumserwerb an der vom Grenzüberbau betroffenen fremden Grundfl?che iSd § 418 S 3 ABGB tritt nur ein, wenn der Grundeigentümer vom Bau wei?, ihn vorwerfbar dennoch nicht untersagt und der Bauführer redlich ist. Im übrigen kann der Schikaneeinwand des Bauführers das Beseitigungsbegehren des Grundeigentümers ausschlie?en, wenn es überwiegend auf eine Sch?digung des Bauführers abzielt und die Wahrung und Verfolgung der sich aus der Freiheit des Eigentums ergebenden Rechte deutlich in den Hintergrund tritt. Die Rsp zum Eigengrenzüberbau ist nicht auf den Grenzüberbau von Liegenschaften, die verschiedenen Eigentümern geh?ren, übertragbar. Würde man einen Eigentumserwerb auch des schlechtgl?ubigen Bauführers am überbauten fremden Grund annehmen, geriete man in einen unaufl?slichen Wertungswiderspruch zum Schadenersatzrecht, das bereits bei leichter Fahrl?ssigkeit Schadenersatz, und zwar idR in Form von Naturalrestitution, vorsieht.     

Political Trust and Distrust in Switzerland: A Normative Analysis

Abstract: Based on data from a Swiss survey study (N = 769), this research investigated individual‐level determinants of trust in political authorities from a social psychological perspective. The study demonstrates that individuals with a low level of education who feel materially at risk and politically powerlessness expressed the lowest levels of political trust. This relationship was explained with differential endorsement of normative beliefs. A mediation analysis reveals that normative perceptions of Swiss society as being threatened by immorality and growing social inequalities accounted for the effect of perceived material risk on political distrust. The rejection of a duty‐based citizenship norm (voting), in turn, mediated the impact of political powerlessness on distrust. Political orientation was unrelated to political trust. These findings illustrate the cognitive underpinnings of political alienation and suggest that perceived lack of political agency and perceived risk of social declassification are key factors in understanding political distrust.     

Modeling the Influence of Investigator Bias on the Elicitation of True and False Confessions

The aim of this study was to model various social and cognitive processes believed to be associated with true and false confessions by exploring the link between investigative biases and what occurs in the interrogation room. Using the Russano et al. (Psychol Sci 16:481-486, 2005) paradigm, this study explored how perceptions of guilt influenced the frequency and type of interrogation tactics used, suspect's perceptions of the interrogation process, the likelihood of confession, and investigator's resulting perceptions of culpability. Results suggested that investigator bias led to the increased use of minimization tactics and thereby increased the likelihood of false confessions by innocent participants. In contrast, the manipulation of investigator bias had no direct or indirect influence on guilty participants. These findings confirm the important role of investigator bias and improve our understanding of the decision-making process associated with true and false confessions.     

Erwerbersicherung und Treuhänderpflichten beim grundbücherlichen Sicherungsmodell im Bauträgervertrag

Gerade beim in der Praxis weit verbreiteten Modell der grundbücherlichen Sicherstellung kommen dem Treuh?nder umfassende Pflichten zu, von deren Erfüllung der "Erfolg" dieses Sicherungsmodells ma?geblich abh?ngt. Der folgende Beitrag setzt sich n?her mit den Bestandteilen der grundbücherlichen Sicherstellung und den darauf bezogenen Treuh?nderpflichten auseinander und geht dabei insbesondere der Frage nach, ob die Pflichten derzeit ausreichend pr?zisiert sind, um dem Erwerber den vom Gesetz intendierten Schutz zu gew?hrleisten.     

Ethnic Heterogeneity and Public Support for Welfare: Is the American Experience Replicated in Britain,Sweden and Denmark?

The link between ethnic heterogeneity and public support for welfare policy is debated. The thesis of a negative relationship is supported by much American research. Historically the race issue has blocked a number of American welfare schemes; across the United States ethnically heterogeneous states have less generous benefits, and citizens having negative attitudes towards blacks often oppose welfare. The research question is: To what extent will increased ethnic heterogeneity in European countries establish the same mechanisms? Three theoretical positions are discussed: the position that the American experience is unique; the position that it is generalisable; and a middle position of it being contingent on institutional settings. The latter position predicts that the American experience can be avoided, especially in social democratic welfare regimes where the ethnicity issue has not been politicised. Empirically the article is based on survey data from the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark, in which a number of American items were directly replicated. Despite indications of American uniqueness and welfare‐regime effects, the findings support the position that the in‐group/out‐group mechanisms found in the United States are being replicated in Europe.     

The political economy of the environmental criminal justice system: a production function approach

The criminal justice system combines at least three distinct institutions, police, prosecutors, and courts, in order to enforce key regulations. Focusing on criminal environmental law contained in the German Penal Code, this paper empirically studies the determinants of enforcement decisions at the levels of the police, prosecutors, and judges using a production function approach. We focus particularly on the role of economic and political factors and their comparison across institutions. The results of the panel data analysis show evidence for the presence of economic factors determining behavior at all levels. Political factors impact especially on police and court behavior.     

Searching for electoral irregularities in an established democracy: Applying Benford’s Law tests to Bundestag elections in Unified Germany

This article investigates electoral irregularities in the 1990 to 2005 Bundestag elections of unified Germany. Drawing on the Second Digit Benford Law (2BL) by Mebane (2006), the analysis consists of comparing the observed frequencies of numerals of candidate votes and party votes at the precinct level against the expected frequencies according to Benford’s Law. Four central findings stand out. First, there is no evidence for systematic fraud or mismanagement with regard to candidate votes from districts where fraud would be most instrumental. Second, at the state level (Bundesland), there are 51 violations in 190 tests of the party list votes. Third, East German states are not more prone to violations than Western ones. This finding refutes the notion that the East’s more recent transition to democracy poses problems in electoral management. Fourth, a strong variation in patterns of violation across Bundesländer exists: states with dominant party control are more likely to display irregularities. The article concludes by hypothesizing and exploring the notion that partisan composition of nominees involved in the counting may produce a higher likelihood of violation and be a cause of Länder variation. This may especially be the case when a party dominates in a Bundesland or opponents to the former socialist regime party are involved in the counting.     

Constitutional verbosity and social trust

A common argument in the trust literature is that high-trust cultures allow efficient commercial contracts to be shorter, covering fewer contingencies. We take this idea to the topic of social contracts. Specifically, we ask whether social trust affects the length and detail of constitutions. Cross-country estimates suggest that national trust levels are indeed robustly and negatively associated with the length of countries’ constitutions.     

Imperfect information and the Meltzer-Richard hypothesis

Standard majority-voting models predict that redistribution is positively linked to the mean-to-median income ratio but empirical evidence is mixed. This paper shows that the different empirical reactions to rising mean-to-median income ratios can be rationalized in a simple Romer-Roberts-Meltzer-Richard framework with imperfect information. In such a model, it is important to consider the source of rising mean-to-median ratios. Income growth of the poor can lead to less redistribution as more agents perceive themselves to be rich, which tends to reduce the support for redistribution. An empirical application reveals that the model can explain a substantial part of the first Reagan tax cut.     

The governance of justice and internal security in Scotland: between the Scottish independence referendum and British decisions on the EU

This article examines how the governance of justice and internal security in Scotland could be affected by the outcome of the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014. The article argues that it is currently impossible to equate a specific result in the referendum with a given outcome for the governance of justice and internal security in Scotland. This is because of the complexities of the current arrangements in that policy area and the existence of several changes that presently affect them and are outside the control of the government and of the people of Scotland. This article also identifies an important paradox. In the policy domain of justice and internal security, a ‘no’ vote could, in a specific set of circumstances, actually lead to more changes than a victory of the ‘yes’ camp.