Freedom of art v personality rights: ban upheld on the real life novel Esra

The German Federal Constitutional Court confirms a ban of areal life novel by granting constitutional protection of thepersonality precedence over freedom of art.     

Coping with ultimate evil through the criminal law

Editor in Chief,Criminal Law Forum: An International Journal; Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University School of Law, Camden, New Jersey, United States; B.A., Victoria University of Wellington 1964; LL.B., Victoria University of Wellington 1964; LL.M., Victoria University of Wellington 1967; LL.M., Columbia University 1968; J.S.D., Columbia University 1972.     

Unity, Diversity and the Fragmentation of International Law: How Much Does the Multiplication of International Organizations Really Matter?

It seems to be presumed by many that the simple multiplicationof international organizations (IOs) weakens the unity and integrityof international law. There is, in reality, nothing obviousin this assumption. First, there needs to be evidence of duplicationor overlaps in the various competences of IOs. Second, it needsto be proven that, in the instances in which the activitiesof IOs do overlap, such overlap translates into competition,divergence or conflict. Last, and most importantly, rival orcompeting activities must be of normative significance. Thisessay proposes to address the preliminary question which, infact, precedes and underpins all the others as regards the multiplicationof IOs and international legal unity: how do IOs matter in themaking of international law? IOs, we argue, are more shapersthan makers of international law and their multiplication istherefore not a source of increased chaos in the internationalnormative puzzle.     

The Strategic Sources of Foreign Policy Substitution

While a growing body of work provides empirical support for the notion that political leaders "substitute" foreign policies depending on a variety of domestic political and economic conditions, little work examines the underlying strategic causes of substitution. This article argues that foreign states behave strategically in order to (a) avoid becoming the targets of domestically troubled executives or (b) to take advantage of the domestic trouble another state endures. Such "strategic interaction" delimits the set of foreign policies reasonably available to leaders in trouble at home, thus producing the impetus for policy substitution. This article develops a theoretical model of strategic behavior and policy substitution and reports empirical results of a multivariate probit model.     

The nature and evolution of the state in Zaïre

A number of models have been proposed to describe the state in Zaïre since the country’s independence in 1960, and many have captured important aspects of its nature and functioning. Unfortunately for the constructors of these models, the behavior of that state in relation to Zaïrian society has hardly been static, but rather has been steadily evolving. Hence, none of these models fully explains the Zaïrian state that emerged at the end of the 1970s, nor did any predict the steady decline of the Zaïrian state in the 1990s.     

Rule-making, rule-breaking? Law breaking by government in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom

This article concerns a relatively novel issue: rule breaking and unlawful conduct by government bodies; to which degree does it occur, what is the nature of this misconduct, what are the underlying motives, and what are the consequences and possible solutions? Rule and law breaking is harmful for the credibility and integrity of a state and its law enforcement system. However, very little empirical research has been carried out into this issue, in comparison to research into state crime. There is little clarity about how public actors deal with criminal and administrative laws and rules in areas like environmental protection, safety regulations and working conditions. Do government bodies set a good example? Is their behaviour better or worse than the public and businesses? An analytical framework for research will be presented and also the results of an extensive research project in the Netherlands; the main themes of which have been benchmarked against data from the United Kingdom. The article will conclude with a summary of the main findings and a number of suggestions for further research and policy development.     

Political Institutions and Pollution: Evidence from Coal‐Fired Power Generation

What is the relationship between political institutions and air pollution generated by the power sector? Here we focus on the association between democracy and power generated from coal, the most polluting of all fossil fuels. Using a new dataset on coal‐fired power plants commissioned between 1980 and 2016 in 71 countries, we find that the relationship between democracy and coal varies according to the environmental Kuznets curve logic. Democratic political institutions at lower levels of economic development are correlated with increased commissioning of coal power plants, as governments seek to appeal to an electorate prioritizing economic growth and affordable energy access. As a country becomes richer, democracy comes to have a negative association with coal power, as clean air becomes a more salient issue for the public.