Koexistenz und Haftung im Gentechnikrecht in rechtsvergleichender Sicht

Die Kultivierung gentechnisch ver?nderter Pflanzen in der Landwirtschaft hat in einigen Staaten wie den USA, Brasilien, Argentinien, Kanada und China bereits erhebliche Ausma?e angenommen. In Europa und zumal in Deutschland befindet sich die „grüne Gentechnik“ dagegen noch in den Kinderschuhen. Nach der Aufhebung des faktischen Moratoriums gegen den Anbau gentechnisch ver?nderter Kulturpflanzen durch die EU im Jahre 2005 ist mit einem langsamen Vordringen der Gentechnik in der Landwirtschaft auch in Europa zu rechnen. Gentechnisch ver?nderte Organismen (GVO) sind lebende Organismen, die sich in der Umwelt vermehren und ausbreiten k?nnen. Die Umwelt stellt ein im Wesentlichen offenes System dar, das nicht hermetisch aufgeteilt und abgeschlossen werden kann. Wo immer GVO in der Umwelt freigesetzt werden, kann daher eine Ausbreitung in der Umwelt nicht grunds?tzlich ausgeschlossen werden. Inwieweit dies eine grunds?tzlich akzeptable Ver?nderung der Umwelt darstellt, die mit den Auswirkungen anderer menschlicher Einwirkungen oder gar natürlichen Ver?nderungen vergleichbar ist, oder es sich um ein ernstes ?kologisches Risiko handelt, ist freilich umstritten. Sowohl der EG-Richtlinie 2001/18/EG über die Freisetzung und das Inverkehrbringen genetisch ver?nderter Produkte als auch dem deutschen Gentechnikgesetz liegt die Wertung zugrunde, dass dies nur im Einzelfall beurteilt werden kann. Soweit der Anbau von GVO-Kulturpflanzen zugelassen wird, geht es darum, etwaige ?kologische und ?konomische Risiken gering zu halten. Neben administrativer Regulierung spielt hier das Haftungsrecht eine zentrale Rolle.     

Bodenschutzrechtliche Ordnungspflichten im Insolvenzverfahren

Seit längerem ist in Rechtsprechung und Literatur umstritten, ¹ ob und in welchem Umfang ein Insolvenzverwalter wegen Gefahren, die von Massegegenständen ausgehen, ordnungsrechtlich haftet. In zwei aktuellen Urteilen hat das BVerwG eine Zustandsverantwortlichkeit des Insolvenzverwalters grundsätzlich anerkannt. Insbesondere durch Freigabe von Massegegenständen kann sich der Insolvenzverwalter aber von der ordnungsrechtlichen Haftung befreien. 1) Vgl. zu dem Streit zwischen Insolvenz- und Verwaltungsrechtlern, Verwaltungs- und Zivilgerichten: Uhlenbruck KTS 2004, 275ff.; Kothe ZfIR 2004, 1ff.; Häsemeyer in: FS Uhlenbruck, 2000, S. 97ff.; Franz NuR 2000, 496ff.     

Book reviews

Transborder Data Flows (Proceedings of an OECD Conference) Edited by Hans‐Peter Gassmann North Holland (Elsevier Science Publishers) 1985, US$74.00

Plastic and Electronic Money: New Payment Systems and Their Implications Patrick Frazer Woodhead Faulkner Limited 1985 £35

A User's Guide To Computer Contracting: Forms, Techniques and Strategies Davis, Allen, Bowman and Armstrong Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1985, $75

Legal Protection of Computer Programs and Data C. Millard Sweet & Maxwell/Stevens 1985, £24

Piracy of Phonograms Gillian Davies ESC Publishing Ltd. 1986. 2nd edition. £17.95.

Biotechnology and Patent Protection—An International Review F. K. Beier, R. S. Crespi and J. Straus O.E.C.D. 1985, £5

Protecting Privacy in Two‐Way Electronic Services David H. Flaherty Mansell Publishing Company 1985, £23.50

High‐Tech Espionage Jay Tuck Sidgwick and Jackson Ltd 1980, £10.95     

Work,fertility, and the status of women in Mexico

Among the major transformations affecting Mexican women in recent decades were their growing participation in the labor market and the fertility decline that began in the 1970s with widespread access to contraception. Data from 3 major Mexican fertility surveys, employment surveys, and censuses are used to analyze changes in female employment and their determinants during the years of economic recession in the 1980s. The main characteristics of the Mexican fertility decline are described, and the relationship between fertility and female employment before and during the economic recession is scrutinized for different social sectors. Suggestions for research on the affects of these changes on the social condition of Mexican women are then presented. The proportions of Mexican women over 12 years old who declared themselves economically active increased from 16% in 1970 to 21% in 1979 and 32% in 1987. Until the 1970s the majority of employed women were young and single or childless. But a clear increase occurred between 1976-87 in the economic participation of older women in union. Economic participation of low income and less educated women increased as they sought work or created their own in response to deteriorating living conditions during the recession. Young women with intermediate or higher educational levels did not increase their relative presence in the labor market in the same period. The marked increase in economic participation of less educated women in union with small children was accompanied by a significant increase in manual occupations. Between 1982-87, the proportion of women aged 20-49 in nonsalaried manual occupations rose from 7.6% to 18.5%. Mexico's fertility decline has been well documented. The total fertility rate declined from 6.3 in 1973 to 3.8 in 1986, while the percentage of women in union using a contraceptive method increased from 30.2 in 1976 to 52.7 in 1987. Fertility differentials have been declining but are still considerable. The inhibitory influence of children on female labor force participation in Mexico is clear, but in the years of economic recession the most notable increase in female workers was in women with 3 or more children of whom the youngest was under 3. It appears that the influence of children on women's employment depends on the socioeconomic status of the woman as well as on the dynamism or sluggishness of the labor market. Research is needed on the significance of changes in fertility and female employment for women's status in Mexico. Several recent works have presented results of microsocial analyses of the ways in which women experience changes in their lives resulting from fertility and employment decisions. A methodological strategy for studying these changes and their influence on women's status should focus on comparisons between different generations and birth cohorts, different types of employment, and different socioeconomic statuses. Both macrosocial and microsocial forms of analysis are needed to provide a full picture.     

Inner-city birth rates following enactment of the Minnesota parental notification law

An increase in birth rates to Minneapolis minors following the enactment of a parental notification law was examined. A well-publicized link between increasing birth rates and the law is shown to have been premature. Birth, abortion, and population data by age, race, and region suggest that the increasing birth rate in Minneapolis was not related to parental notification, but rather to a growing racial minority population.Preparation of this article was supported in part by an Aldeen Grant from Wheaton College. The authors wish to thank the Minnesota Center for Health Statistics, particularly James Wigginton and Carol Vargas, for their considerable work to provide birth, abortion, and population data in a form suitable for the current analysis. The authors also thank Americans United for Life for purchasing the data and providing them to the authors.     

The correlates of spouses' incongruent reports of marital aggression

Husbands' and wives' reports (n=97 couples) of engaging in or experiencing marital aggression were compared to determine congruence. Congruence was defined as spousal agreement on whether either spouse had been nonviolent, mildly violent, or severely maritally violent within the past year. Whereas approximately equal numbers of clinic couples were incongruent for husband and for wife violence (32% vs. 31%), only incongruence for husband violence (H W) was found to correlate with reports of affective and relationship functioning. Incongruent H W wives were more likely to be depressed and angry. H W incongruent wives were also more negative about the inter-spousal communication and rated the relationship as more unsatisfactory for them than did congruent wives. Incongruent H W husbands also perceived the relationship more negatively, but their levels of depression and anger did not differ from congruent H W husbands. These findings were not replicated for spouses who were incongruent for wife violence. Our results support the conclusion that spousal disagreement about H W violence has a more negative impact than does disagreement about wives' level of aggression.     

Family experiences as moderators of the relationship between eating symptoms and personality disturbance

A questionnaire study with 243 female undergraduates assessed whether late adolescent females' experiences of autonomy and perceptions of family conflict would moderate the relationship between eating symptoms and personality disturbances associated with severe eating disorders. Univariate correlations between eating symptoms, on the one hand, and perceived family conflict and reports of individuation and mutuality in the adolescent/parent relationship, on the other hand, were relatively weak and for the most part insignificant. However, these data supported a moderating hypothesis in that eating symptoms were more strongly related to interoceptive confusion and maturity fears among participants describing less individuated relationships with their parents and reporting unusually low levels of family conflict.Authors' names are in alphabetical order, indicating equal contribution to this article.Received Ph.D. from Yale University in 1977. Major interests are in young adult and adolescent development, and etiology and treatment of adolescent depression and other psychopathologies.Received her B.A. from Vassar College and M.A. from Michigan State University. Major interests are in adolescent/parent relationships, separation-individuation, and eating disorders.     

Technology transfer in the navy: The historical background

This report reviews technology transfer in light of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980. Following a brief introduction, a section on “Definitions” explains the several meanings that the phrase “technology transfer” now carries in policy discussions. The next section, on “Passive Technology Transfer”, reviews traditional Department of Defense scientific and technical information programs that relate to technology transfer. A section on “Military Industrial Transfer” examines technology transfer from the Defense Department to private industry, expecially to defense contractors. A section on “The Stevenson-Wydler Act and Active Technology Transfer” describes the principal provisions of the new act and why Congress passed it. The next two sections, on “NASA’s Technology Transfer Program” and “The Federal Laboratory Consortium” outline the two existing Government programs Congress relied upon in developing ideas for the new law. A section on “Implementation of the Stevenson-Wydler Act”, discusses several important issues that must be considered by Navy laboratory management as the new law is put into effect in the Navy. Finally, a brief conclusion emphasizes the major point of the report: That Congress, in passing the Stevenson-Wydler Act, did not fully consider what relationship the new technology transfer programs it was requiring in the Executive Branch should bear to existing programs with similar purposes. If the public interest is to be served, the report argues, the Navy must consciously and carefully determine the proper nature of this relationship.