Offshore-Windfarmen in der Ausschließlichen Wirtschaftszone

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Contracts obtained by means of bribery: should they be void or valid?

This paper argues that contracts obtained by means of bribery should be valid. Nullity and voidability decrease the incentive for voluntary disclosure, assist corrupt actors with enforcing their bribe agreements and provide leeway for abuse. Thus, they run counter to effective anti-corruption. It is argued that other instruments are more suitable for preventing corruption.

Legal Originality

In legal academia it is highly controversial how to ‘beoriginal’ in legal research. This article will try tomaintain an attitude of tolerance in not promoting or discreditingone particular methodology. Instead, it will identify four differentways of ‘being original’. Perhaps the most commonapproach is to deal with ‘micro-legal questions’.Many legal academics also pursue research in ‘macro-legalquestions’. Less common but growing is the importanceof ‘scientific legal research’ and research in ‘non-legaltopics’.     

Philemon and Baucis Death? Two cases of double deaths of married couples

When two human corpses are found in temporal and locational context the assumption of a non-natural cause of death is close at hand. Suicide, extended suicide, homicide or accident (particularly with carbon monoxide) come to mind. When, however, a natural cause of death emerges for both after autopsy and further examinations, this provokes the question whether this incidence is coincidental. In our two presented cases, a married couple each was found dead together. In both cases, the wife needed nursing and was being cared for by a husband who died of cardiac disease shortly before the wife died. In one case, the wife died of acute uncompensated chronic congestive heart failure. In the other case, the cause of death of the wife was hypovolemic shock due to acute gastrointestinal bleeding from recurrent gastric mucosal erosion. It is to be discussed for both cases whether, given the pre-existing illness, the acute stress of the situation in view to the husbands' death may at least have favored the occurrence of death and may, thus, have led to the criminologically conspicuous situation of finding.     

Progressive muscular dystrophy of the Duchenne type

A case of sudden death is reported that occurred as a result of Duchenne type progressive muscular dystrophy with extreme myogenic changes. These changes consisted of extensive muscular lipomatous transformation, typical of the advanced stage of the disease. The heart showed myocardial fibrosis, the respiratory system acute tracheobronchitis with early signs of bronchopneumonia. The pattern of distribution of the changes in the musculature is discussed with regard to the sudden death as well as to the possibility that medical malpractice may have occurred.     

Lipomatosis cordis as a cause of ventricular perforation in implantation of a pacemaker probe

A case report is given on lethal perforation of the right ventricle during emergency implantation of a pacemaker probe. The forensic autopsy revealed extensive lipomatous infiltration of the right ventricle in the rupture area. Lethal complications occur occasionally in spite of the standardization of implantation techniques, especially as a result of reanimation attempts. Such cases are discussed with regard to the forensic aspects with reference to the literature. Lipomatosis cordis as "locus minoris resistentiae" has special significance for ventricular perforation.     

Trust in Democratic Institutions in Germany: Theory and Evidence Ten Years After Unification

The German welfare state is in crisis. Alarming long-term demographic trends, the still not fully digested consequences of German unification and the current economic downturn in much of the Eurozone have combined to create an urgent need for welfare reform. Yet the constitutional arrangements which govern the German political system, and well-entrenched political practice, mean that any such reform process is a daunting challenge. Thus, the welfare crisis is also a crisis of German-style co-operative federalism. Current empirical evidence makes for uncomfortable reading, and triggers debate on the nature of the German federation: have the two constitutional principles of federalism and establishing equal living conditions throughout the federation become mutually exclusive? However, as much of the welfare state is centred on the best utilisation of scarce financial resources, it is debatable to what extent alterations in the functional distribution of welfare responsibilities among the territorial levels of government can be regarded as a solution for the current problems. The article concludes that in the search for long-term sustainability of the welfare state the territorial dimension is likely to remain a secondary issue.     

Debunking Brazilian Exceptionalism in its Africa Relations: Evidence from Angola and Tanzania

ABSTRACT

From 2003, President Lula heralded a new dawn in Brazil’s expanding African relations. Brazil was claimed to be unlike other exploitative powers because of its cultural, geographic and historic connections; Africa’s true brother. Despite the passing of two decades and a number of scandals, this narrative of exceptionalism remains. Studies on Brazil–Africa relations tend to focus on the Brazilian state as the key, essentially benign agent. Our analysis uses the case studies of Angola and Tanzania to debunk the idea of Brazilian exceptionalism. We demonstrate the significant, overlooked agency of corporations in shaping and implementing Lula’s Africa Policy, and determining its developmentally dubious outcomes. Additionally, the paper shows how political elites in Africa directed Brazilian government and companies into their political and business norms. Thus, Brazil–Africa relations replicated much of the typical economic patterns of the continent’s trade, with oft-controversial and corrupt investment in commodity extraction and infrastructure.