Swiss Caucasian population data for the STR loci D2S1338 and D19S433 using the AmpFISTR SGM plus PCR amplification kit

Allele and genotype frequencies for the ten STR loci D3S1358, VWA, D16S539, D2S1338, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D19S433, TH01, FGA were determined in a Swiss Caucasian population sample (n=206) using the AmpFISTR SGM Plus Amplification kit. Electrophoresis was carried out on an ABI PRISM CE 310 Genetic Analyzer instrument. Previously, allele frequencies were published for the 13 STR loci D3S1358, VWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820, THO1, TPOX, CSF1PO and D16S539 for the same samples (n=206) amplified with the AmpFISTR Profiler Plus and Cofiler PCR Amplification kits. Since the results for the eight loci D3S1358, VWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, THO1, D16S539 shared between the AmpFISTR SGM Plus, Profiler Plus and Cofiler PCR Amplification kits already are published, only the allele frequencies for the two STR loci D2S1338 and D19S433 are reported in this paper. The two loci meet Hardy-Weinberg expectations. In addition, there is little evidence for association of alleles among the 15 loci (amplified with the Profiler, Cofiler, and SGM Plus amplification kits). The allelic frequency data can be used in forensic analyses to estimate the frequency of a multiple STR locus DNA profile in the Swiss population.     

Towards the Real Cross-examination Criminal Procedure in Hungary

Act of XIX/1998 on Criminal Procedure that had become known in theeyes of the public and the legal sciences as The New Code on CriminalProcedure was promulgated by the Hungarian Parliament on its sessionof 10th of March 1998. The reason for the creation of such an Act was theeagerness to finally get rid of the criminal procedure act of the socialistera, e.g. to get rid of its principle of equality of two main phases: theinvestigation and the procedure in front of the court. Also it was among thepurposes of the new act to adjust our rules of procedure to the regulationsof the Western European Countries. The legislator was took into considerationthe general principles and institutions of Act XXXIII of 1896 on CriminalProcedure, without reviving its surpassed parts. The practices of the Strasbourginstitutes were considered as well.     

The five shades of grey: party systems and authoritarian institutions in post-Soviet Central Asian states

ABSTRACT

This article overviews and seeks to explain the processes of party system formation in the post-Soviet Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) by focusing on a crucial party-system property, fragmentation. The analysis reveals that to a much greater extent than in democracies, where party systems are largely shaped by societal factors, the level of party system fragmentation in autocracies is determined by the scope of presidential powers, as entrenched in the formal institutional order and reflected in the national constitution. The level of authoritarianism is largely inconsequential for party system fragmentation, while the role of electoral rules is secondary. Institutionally weak and institutionally strong autocratic presidents have a preference for fragmented party systems, while presidents with an intermediate range of powers seek and obtain low levels of party system fragmentation.     

Moving towards EU membership and away from liberal democracy

ABSTRACT

The article concludes the Special Issue, Illiberal Politics in Southeast Europe, on the retreat of liberal democracy in the region. It focuses on the central themes that link all the papers together: free and fair elections, media freedom, judicial independence, privileged access to public resources and the role of civil society. It seeks to disentangle the causes and consequences of illiberal politics in the region and explores the similarities in the illiberal practices and strategies incumbents use with the aim of staying in power indefinitely. The main argument is that democratic backsliding in Southeast Europe is deeply rooted in the unfinished transitions of the 1990s, which gave rise to new political and economic elites and that blending those two into one resulted in the dominance of the executive over the judiciary and legislature. These new elites became entrenched during the wars and conflicts that affected the region. The enabling factors were of societal origin – clientelist practices, corruption, nepotism and mistrust in politics accompanied by external factors – as well as international pull and push factors (from the EU and Russia) along with a domino effect of democratic backsliding in the region.     

The diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in the forensic medical study of cadavers]

Presents analysis of cases when pulmonary tuberculosis was diagnosed during autopsy by forensic medical experts. Before death the patients were not registered at tuberculosis control centres and were administered no treatment for tuberculosis.     

Transborder data flow issues and technology transfer

Transborder data flow and technology transfer issues have a substantial overlap. Transborder data flows represent flows of information with economic and/or cultural value. Electronic access to “know-how”, information, data, etc. is becoming more and more important to technology transfer and sharing. National transborder data flow policies either affect or can themselves be technology transfer policies.