Path Dependence as an Explanation of the Institutional Stability of the German Parliament

The theory of path dependence identifies sources of institutional stability and change. It emphasises the importance of early, contingent events and increasing returns over time to explain patterns of institutional persistence. Used to describe the evolution of the procedural practices of the German Bundestag, this theory points to the long-term importance of the consensus that developed early in the 1950s among the floor leaders of three dominant parties, which is in stark contrast to the absence of such inter-party consensus in the early years of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic. Path dependence identifies factors endogenous to the institution to explain how the institution responds to external shocks, such as the entry of new parties. When the Greens and the PDS entered the Bundestag, the established parties responded by accepting their vigorous exercise of minority rights and they accepted the established practice of managing these rights by inter-party consensus.     

Rechtliche Absicherung von Dienstleistungen im allgemeinen wirtschaftlichen Interesse in der österreichischen Rechtsordnung

Auf welche Weise Leistungen der Daseinsvorsorge gegenüber den Anforderungen des europäischen Binnenmarktes abgesichert werden können, ist bis dato kaum geklärt. Gerade im Lichte der jüngsten Entwicklungen, insbesondere im Bereich der Judikatur des Europäischen Gerichtshofes wird diesen Fragen in Hinkunft große Bedeutung zukommen. Im folgenden Beitrag soll der Versuch unternommen werden, die Probleme in der österreichischen Rechtsordnung einer eingehenderen Analyse zu unterziehen.     

Individual Criminal Responsibility in Article 25 ICC Statute

The collective nature of crimes under international law doesnot absolve us of the need to determine individual responsibility.Article 25 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court(ICC) now contains a detailed regulation of individual criminalresponsibility. While discussing the elements of various modesof individual criminal responsibility, this essay shows thatthe most important difference between prior legal frameworksand Article 25(3) ICC Statute lies not in the redefinition ofthe scope of individual responsibility in international criminallaw, but in the systematization of modes of participation. Thecase is made that Article 25(3) is best construed as a differentiationmodel with four levels of participation. In this model, modesof participation should be understood as indicative of the degreeof individual guilt, and thus as helpful guidelines in sentencingmatters. With particular reference to joint commission, theauthor shows that this concept also leads to a coherent interpretationof the various modes of participation.     

Twelve-locus Y-STR haplotypes in the Flemish population

POPULATION: One hundred and thirteen unrelated Flemish men from Belgium.     

Zur Frage der Stellung des Verfassungsgerichtshofes zum Obersten Gerichtshof und Verwaltungsgerichtshof

Ohne Zusammenfassung