The evolution of judge-made law

The Law must be applied in all cases which come within the letter or the spirit of any of its provisionsWhere no provision is applicable, the judge shall decide according to the existing Customary Law and, in default thereof, according to the rules which he would lay down if he had himself to act as legislator.Herein he must be guided by approved legal science and case-law¹     

On the applicability of secondary dentin formation to radiological age estimation in young adults

The literature provides linear regression formulas for dental age estimation that is based on radiological two-dimensional measurements of the pulp size. The aim of the present study was to explore whether the previously presented regression formulas could lead to statistically sound results and to appropriate repeatability when applied to young individuals. Orthopantomograms (OPGs) of 44 Austrian individuals, aged between 13 and 24 years, were selected at random. In accordance with the reported method, six teeth on each OPG were chosen to carry out the measurements. Statistical analysis was performed in order to assess the difference between the estimated and the true chronological age. The regression formulas reported by Kvaal et al. (1995) led to a consistent underestimation; the regression formulas reported by Paewinsky et al. (2005) resulted in a constant overestimation of age. The statistical analysis of intraobserver and interobserver variation revealed a variation width below 2%, respectively.     

Does a positive finding of tetrahydrocannabinol in the blood result from ingestion of Indian frankincense (Boswellia serrata)?

The exculpatory statement that a positive THC finding in the blood is due to the consumption of hemp products or passive exposure to cannabis smoke has been disproved by the monitoring of hemp products and recent passive inhalation studies conducted in social settings, which showed that these conditions are unlikely to produce a positive result in the blood. The defense that the ingestion of Indian olibanum may result in a positive THC concentration in the blood is unusual; it is based on older publications where authors had speculated on a possible association of the synthetic pathways of THC from terpenoid precursors also being present in olibanum and the biogenesis of THC in hemp. It had further been speculated whether chemical or plant-derived pathways may also occur in humans. A thorough understanding of the different pathways and recently published results have outdated these speculations.     

Parteien und die Generosität der Altersrenten in Zeiten permanenter Austerität

Zusammenfassung: Die quantitative Sozialpolitikforschung weist ein doppeltes Defizit auf: Zum einen dominieren Analysen aggregierter Ausgaben(quoten), zum anderen fokussieren die meisten Studien zu Lohnersatzraten auf die Arbeitslosen‐ und Krankenversicherung, während die Rentengenerosität weitgehend ausgespart geblieben ist. Der vorliegende Artikel stößt in diese Lücke, indem er zunächst die theoretischen Besonderheiten der Rente diskutiert und zwei Hypothesen zu deren Rückbau und der Rolle der Parteien dabei formuliert. Im Anschluss an eine Methodendiskussion präsentieren wir die Ergebnisse von (robustheitsgetesteten) Regressionsanalysen der Veränderungen der Lohnersatzraten in 18 entwickelten Demokratien. Es zeigt sich, dass die Kürzungen der Lohnersatzraten im Rentenbereich weitaus geringer ausfallen als in den beiden anderen Bereichen, und dass sich die Parteieneffekte auffallend unterscheiden.     

Discovery of decomposed and mummified corpses in the domestic setting--a marker of social isolation?

Mass media reports attribute the occurrence of decomposed or mummified corpses in a domestic setting mainly to an increasing social isolation of elderly people. Not much is known about the demographic and medical conditions under which individuals are found months or even years after death in their homes. For this study, autopsy reports of individuals found dead and mummified or decomposed between 1993 and 1997 with those from 1963 to 1967 were retrospectively analyzed. Between 1993 and 1997, a total number of 320 individuals were found decomposed at home compared to 412 such cases between 1963 and 1967. The proportion of individuals older than 64 years was significantly higher during the 1990s study period. Furthermore, the proportion of deaths attributable to natural causes was significantly lower during the 1990s, whereas the rate of suicides was nearly three times higher.     

Policing the Bargain: Coalition Government and Parliamentary Scrutiny

Policymaking by coalition governments creates a classic principal‐agent problem. Coalitions are comprised of parties with divergent preferences who are forced to delegate important policymaking powers to individual cabinet ministers, thus raising the possibility that ministers will attempt to pursue policies favored by their own party at the expense of their coalition partners. What is going to keep ministers from attempting to move policy in directions they favor rather than sticking to the “coalition deal”? We argue that parties will make use of parliamentary scrutiny of “hostile” ministerial proposals to overcome the potential problems of delegation and enforce the coalition bargain. Statistical analysis of original data on government bills in Germany and the Netherlands supports this argument. Our findings suggest that parliaments play a central role in allowing multiparty governments to solve intracoalition conflicts.     

Redistribution of work and income in the crisis: Actors' problems of working time reduction and a guaranteed basic income

In the present mass unemployment the ability of working time reduction to redistribute work and income becomes more clearly limited. In this paper I explore the feasibility of combining a guaranteed basic income with working time reduction in order to enhance the redistribution of work and income in the crisis. An important problem arises however when these programs are combined. The demand for working time reduction applies to a narrower range of interests, but integrates them more strongly, whereas the demand for a guaranteed basic income affects a wider range of interests, but integrates them less strongly. I call this the collectivity dilemma. The solution of this dilemma demands relatively complex cognitive reflexions on the part of the social actors involved.Translated by Andrew Watt