Perspektiven des künftigen österreichischen und europäischen Zivilrechts

Dieser Beitrag befasst sich einleitend mit dem ABGB, das international untersch?tzt und unzureichend beachtet wird. Dem ABGB, wie den anderen nationalen Kodifikationen, wird nunmehr freilich ein Konkurrent erstehen: ein Gemeinsames Europ?isches Kaufrecht, für das die Europ?ische Kommission jüngst einen Entwurf vorgelegt hat. Nach einem überblick über die Genese dieses Entwurfs bietet der Beitrag in seinem Hauptteil eine erste kritische Einsch?tzung. Er weist darauf hin, dass der Entwurf lückenhaft ist und unter einer Reihe inhaltlicher M?ngel leidet; auch eine Revision des acquis communautaire, die diesen Namen verdient, hat bislang nicht stattgefunden. Eine Analyse des Entwurfs wird dadurch erschwert, dass vielfach nicht erkennbar ist, warum seine Verfasser bestimmte Entscheidungen getroffen haben. Die praktischen Erfolgschancen des Gemeinsamen Kaufrechts sind skeptisch zu beurteilen. Das liegt nicht zuletzt an seinem in dreifacher Hinsicht eingeschr?nkten Anwendungsbereich und an den überkomplexen Regeln zu seiner Wahl. Auch sind die allgemeinen Rahmenbedingungen eher ungünstig, denn weder die Sprachenfrage noch das Problem einer einheitlichen Auslegung ist befriedigend gel?st. Zudem stützt sich die Kommission auf eine ungeeignete Rechtsgrundlage.     

Medical and legal aspects of genital mutilation and circumcision part I: female genital mutilation (FGM)

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is considered to be against the law and against morality not only in Western countries, although a woman of age and able to consent may sometimes think differently. The procedure may have serious physical and emotional consequences for the girl or woman. Nevertheless there are attempts to justify the procedure with medical and hygienic pseudoarguments, ideology, freedom of religion, cultural identity and social adequacy. Outside the Western world, some people claim that religion and culture alone justify the practice. In Germany, parents can lose the right to determine the residence of their daughter, if she is faced with the risk of genital mutilation in order to prevent that the child or girl is taken to her home country. Genital mutilation as a gender-specific threat is recognized as a reason to grant asylum or prevent deportation. Proposals to make genital mutilation a separate punishable offence are presently discussed by the legislator.     

From alcohol to liquid ecstasy (GHB)--a survey of old and modern knockout agents. Part 1: historic and classic knockout agents

Alcohol has been the most important knockout drug in history and literature and continues to play an essential role up to now. Blunt force to the head in the form of a knockout punch is another mechanism leading to a transient loss of consciousness. Diethyl ether and chloroform are among the classical knockout substances. Although they have meanwhile been replaced by modern sedatives and hypnotics, their use is still observed in isolated cases.     

Die Rückabwicklung nach Widerruf von Verbraucherverträgen

Eine Revision des acquis communautaire im Bereich des Verbrauchervertragsrechts ist h?ufig angekündigt, aber bislang nicht durchgeführt worden. Im Rahmen einer kleinen Arbeitsgruppe untersucht der Verfasser dieses Beitrags, wie eine derartige Revision aussehen k?nnte, die sich nicht nur auf eine rechtstechnische Harmonisierung des im Laufe der Jahre entstandenen Regelungsgeflechts beschr?nkt, sondern überprüft, welche Sonderregeln aus welchen Gründen vor dem Hintergrund des allgemeinen Zivilrechts erforderlich sind. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird dies Untersuchungsprogramm für den Bereich der Rückabwicklung nach Widerruf von Verbrauchervertr?gen durchgeführt. Als Folie dienen dabei die allgemeinen Regeln über die Rückabwicklung fehlgeschlagener Vertr?ge, die in der Neuauflage der UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts enthalten sein werden.     

Flexibilisierung des Schutzgebietsnetzes Natura 2000 vor dem Hintergrund des Klimawandels

Das Thema Klimawandel und Naturschutz geh?rt derzeit zu den zentralen Gegenst?nden der politischen und wissenschaftlichen Umweltdiskussion. Sowohl für Juristen als auch für Naturwissenschaftler verschiedener Fachrichtungen stellt das Thema eine besondere Herausforderung dar. In den folgenden Er?rterungen geht es vor allem um die Fragen, welches Instrumentarium das geltende europ?ische Recht zum Schutzgebietsnetz Natura 2000 bereith?lt, um klimabedingten Arealverschiebungen von Tier- und Pflanzenarten Rechnung tragen zu k?nnen, und wie dieses Instrumentarium de lege ferenda optimiert werden kann. Die Bearbeitung der Fragen erfolgt auf der Grundlage rechts- und naturwissenschaftlicher Kooperation.     

Decayed, filled and missing teeth as a forensic-odontologic aid for determining the age above 18 years: A radiographic study of orthopantomograms from a group of teenagers and young adults

The human teeth are a valuable source of information concerning identification and age calculation in forensic sciences. Dental treatment often causes permanent alteration of the teeth, which is visible on radiographs. The correlation of decayed, missing or filled teeth and chronological age has not yet been used for determining the accomplished 18th year of life in teenagers and young adults, e. g. for legal and anthropological purposes. The aim of this study was to determine whether the evaluation of these findings on radiographs correlates with the chronological age in teenagers and young adults. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The dental X-rays (orthopantomograms, OPG) of 1053 outpatients (age: 14 to 24 years) were evaluated. The values "decayed", "missing", or "filled" were recorded for each tooth present. The data were then calculated using statistical tools. RESULTS: The correlation between the number of missing teeth and the chronological age is low. However, the positive predictive value of determining the age of 18 years for certain types of teeth proved to be very high, even up to 100 %. Further, high numbers of filled teeth gave reasonable positive predictive values for an age of 18 years. The number of decayed teeth did not correlate with age. DISCUSSION: This study provides for the first time predictive values for the estimation whether a person is 18 years of age, based on the evaluation of decayed, missing or filled teeth on OPGs only. Whereas the number of patients with such findings is generally low in this age group, some of the positive findings can be used for age estimation as an adjunct to other sources of age calculation. The sole application of these items is not recommended, as sanitary conditions of the teeth depend on both social and individual circumstances. Therefore, the calculated values also reflect the culture of the sample studied. Finally, they are time-dependent and have to be compared to data from other populations. These results have some bearing on the field of forensic odontology.     

Investigations on the cause of death in a polytoxicomanic patient treated with wires and intermaxillary fixation for a chronic, infected mandibular fracture

The case of a 36-year-old male and former patient is presented who died for initially unknown reasons, with intermaxillary wire fixation for the treatment of an infected mandibular fracture still in place. The combined investigation of forensic experts and maxillofacial surgeons excluded aspiration and asphyxia as cause of death. Evidence was found for lethal methadone concentrations after intravenous drug abuse and a broncho pneumonia. Despite the clear evidence of a fatal intoxication in this case, caution must be exercised when dealing with individuals carrying intermaxillary fixation.     

Medicolegal aspects of witnessed suicide due to gunshot to the head. Part 1: Circumstances and psychopathology

In the USA the frequency of witnessed suicide, i.e. suicide committed in the presence of at least one further individual, is reported to range between 5 and 15%. As up to now no detailed analysis of this special issue has been given in the medicolegal literature, this article presents and discusses a number of cases including 8 males and 1 female (age 19-58 years, mean 41.2 years) who had all committed suicide by inflicting a gunshot to the head. In 3 cases post-mortem blood alcohol concentrations of 1.73, 1.88 and 2.23 g/kg respectively were observed. Toxicological tests produced negative results. 5 cases had a medical history of psychiatric disorder with endogenous depression in 3, chronic alcohol abuse and drug abuse with concomitant psychosis in one case each. As far as the motives were known, domestic arguments were of prevailing importance. With one exception the suicides were committed at home. In 6 cases one witness was present, in 2 cases 2 individuals and in one case 22 persons witnessed the suicide. The reported cases are discussed in comparison with the psychiatric-psychological classification according to McDowell et al. with the aim to provide a solid and comprehensive medicolegal method to distinguish between homicide and suicide. Furthermore aspects of psychiatric sequelae and psychological support of the witnesses, which are also of importance for the forensic pathologist called to the scene, are discussed.