The Mauerschützenprozesse and the principle of nullum crimen sine lege

More than 50 years after the end of the Nuremberg Tribunal, the Berlin Mauerschiitzenprozesse, a series of trials in the Nuremberg tradition, devoted to bringing to justice former GDR soldiers and officials involved in the application of deadly force against Republikfluchtlinge on the inner German borders, have reached their crescendo. More than 50 soldiers and officials have received sentences of up to six years’ imprisonment. Among the many issues at hand, none are more important than that of nullum crimen sine lege, or the Rückwirkungsverbot. Is the process of trying and punishing former GDR soldiers and officials legally justifiable under Article 103, section 2 of the Grundgesetz? Or are the Mauerschützenprozesse a classic example of ‘victors ‘justice?’ Using the Nuremberg Tribunal as a foundation, this article will argue that the Mauerschiitzenprozesse are legitimate, and that the sentences imposed against GDR functionaries do not violate the principle of nullum crimen sine lege.     

Caveat Emptor: What Do We Know about Public Administration Evidence and How Do We Know It?

This article provides an overview of a new feature in Public Administration Review called Evidence in Public Administration. This feature was created to provide a space in which scholars and practitioners of public administration can meet to engage in a dialogue about evidence in public decision making. In this feature, we will shine a light on the evidence needed to make effective decisions and examinations of the evidence that currently exists for contemporary public sector efforts. We explicitly want to create a resource for both practitioners and scholars to consult when trying to find evidence on a particular topic and to know the limitations and parameters of that evidence. This article lays out the purpose, scope, and rationale for the feature, as well as a call to engage in this endeavor.     

A comprehensive method for the assessment of industrial injury events

Because work‐related injuries are infrequent and often poorly documented, injury event operationalizations beyond recorded rates would be beneficial. This study describes a method that uses self‐reported and recorded events.

Researchers interviewed workers and obtained recorded events from personnel files to develop the near miss and unreported injury events measures. The self‐reported event measures, with other safety variables and demographics, were then administered to two groups of plant workers (N = 115 and N = 120). Results indicated that self‐reported events differed from recorded events and are related to other work injury variables (e.g., work hazards, overtime). An expanded safety protocol such as this one may provide additional tools to investigate the injury event process.     

The environmental psychology of the hospital: Is the cure worse than the illness?

Abstract

This paper presents a framework and summarizes evidence bearing on the role that the physical environment plays in the prevention and reduction of psychological and social problems encountered by patients in acute care and psychiatric institutions. Factors that are considered important to preventive strategies include issues such as the spatial layout and design of hospital environments, privacy problems, personal control and independence, information interventions, hospital social relationships, and levels of environmental stimulation. Two case studies are utilized to illustrate these issues within the context of both acute care and psychiatric facilities in a large municipal hospital. Greatest emphasis is placed on the use of the physical environment in the promotion of primary and secondary prevention within tertiary care settings.     

Reasoned elaboration of equitable maxims

Wechsler thought matters of established precepts must be decided by ‘neutral principles’, requiring judges to provide ‘reasoned elaboration’. The objective of this research is to examine critically the judicial elaboration of the maxims of equity. Have judicially stated maxims of equity tended to conceal the underlying universal principles by an absence of reasoned elaboration? Argument tests the proposition that the maxims’ underlying principles are veiled, by the necessity of having to analyse their judicial elaborations, in order to infer their inherent principle. Only three of the studied maxims were true maxims. Others could not be subject to reasoned elaboration.     

Making the least of our differences? Trends in local economic development in Ontario and Michigan, 1990–2005

Abstract: This paper examines trends in local economic development policies in Canadian and US cities over the past fifteen years. Using data drawn from surveys conducted at four points in time ‐ 1990, 1994, 2001, and 2005 ‐ the study provides a longitudinal assessment of change versus stability in overall approach toward economic development. Findings indicate that Canadian and US cities have followed relatively similar trajectories in the extent to which they use particular economic development policies. Overall, the most common economic development policies in both nations have been and continue to be very similar: infrastructure investment generally, land development, basic promotion, and the use of special events to attract and retain businesses and residents and to promote the community. Thus, there is a visible pattern of the “least of differences” among cities in Michigan and Ontario in their development strategies and approaches. Sommaire: Le présent article examine les tendances qui se sont dégagées des politiques de développement économique local dans les villes canadiennes et américaines, au cours des quinze dernières années. À l'aide des données tirées de sondages réalisés à quatre moments différents, à savoir en 1990, 1994, 2001 et 2005, l‘étude fournit une évaluation longitudinale des changements par rapport à la stabilité dans l'approche globale à l’égard du développement économique. Les résultats indiquent que les villes canadiennes et américaines ont suivi des trajectoires relativement similaires dans la mesure où elles ont recours à des politiques de développement économique particulières. Dans l'ensemble, les politiques de développement économique les plus courantes dans ces deux pays ont été et continuent d‘être très similaires: l'investissement dans l'infrastructure en général, l'aménagement du territoire, la promotion de base, et le recours à des événements spéciaux pour attirer et retenir les entreprises et les résidents et pour promouvoir la communauté. Ainsi, il existe parmi certaines villes du Michigan et de l'Ontario un modèle visible de la “moindre des différences” dans leurs stratégies et leurs méthodes de développement.