The Linguistics of Misrepresentation: Intentions and Truth Values

During contractual negotiations, one party may lead the other into error, thus causing loss or damage. If misrepresentation is shown, the aggrieved party may therefore claim for damages or rescission. In the English law, it was for many years unclear whether a finding of misrepresentation required proof of deliberate, intentional fraud, or whether it could be analysed as a simple failure of consensus, in which case it would be sufficient to show negligence. According to the traditional rule, the misleading declaration had to be factually false, and concern an existing state of affairs or a verifiable past event. However, expressions of personal opinion or of future intention can mislead, although they cannot sensibly be considered as true or false. Further, in practice, many literally true sentences are liable to give false impressions. Such statements may be ambiguous or only partly true. Like linguists and ethical philosophers, the judges are confronted with recursive problems of understanding and re-interpretation. Citations from a number of celebrated English cases are given to show that in spite of significant developments, no legal rules or principles can satisfactorily account for intuitions concerning intentional behaviour and morality.     

Psychological Dimensions of the Israeli Settlements Issue: Endowments and Identities

When you have a rational discussion of what to do with the Israeli settlements, how do you factor in the irrational, the deeply held beliefs of people with varying views? As we witnessed at the conference, when people speak about the Israeli settlements, they do so with emotion, using such phrases as “Messianic spirit,”“longing for homeland,”“compassionate revenge,” and “the destruction of dreams.” The land in question is precious to two different groups, who each imbue the land with their own narrative and fervor. In fact, at the very heart of what makes the settlements issue so complex and seemingly intractable is its psychological dimensions — the mental and emotional factors that permeate the discussion at every level.     

Ensuring an Inventor's Patent Rights: Recent Supreme Court Case Clarifies Timing of Application

Patent law encourages the development and transfer of technology by making the information regarding new inventions public knowledge, while providing the inventor with the right to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention for 20 years. Because the exclusive rights to the invention are limited in time, and to prevent the inventor from gaining additional time, the application for a patent must be filed within a statutorily prescribed time. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc. clarified one aspect related to the timing of the patent application. This article specifically examines the Pfaff case and the question of when an invention subject to a contract to sell exists as it relates to the timing of patent applications.     

Can computed tomography replace or supplement autopsy?

Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) has been integrated into the practice of many forensic pathologists. To evaluate the utility of PMCT in supplementing and/or supplanting medicolegal autopsy, we conducted a prospective double-blind comparison of abnormal findings reported by the autopsy pathologist with those reported by a radiologist reviewing the PMCT. We reviewed 890 cases: 167 with blunt force injury (BFI), 63 with pediatric trauma (under 5 years), 203 firearm injuries, and 457 drug poisoning deaths. Autopsy and radiology reports were coded using the Abbreviated Injury Scale and abnormal findings and cause of death (COD) were compared for congruence in consensus conferences with novel pathologists and radiologists. Overall sensitivity for recognizing abnormal findings was 71% for PMCT and 74.6% for autopsy. Sensitivities for PMCT/autopsy were 74%/73.1% for BFI, 61.5%/71.4% for pediatric trauma, 84.9%/83.7% for firearm injuries, and 56.5%/66.4% for drug poisoning deaths. COD assigned by reviewing PMCT/autopsy was correct in 88%/95.8% of BFI cases, 99%/99.5% of firearm fatalities, 82.5%/98.5% of pediatric trauma deaths, and 84%/100% of drug poisoning deaths of individuals younger than 50. Both autopsy and PMCT were imperfect in recognizing injuries. However, both methods identified the most important findings and are sufficient to establish COD in cases of BFI, pediatric trauma, firearm injuries and drug poisoning in individuals younger than 50. Ideally, all forensic pathologists would have access to a CT scanner and a consulting radiologist. This would allow a flexible approach that meets the diagnostic needs of each case and best serves decedents' families and other stakeholders.     

Book reviews

Hauptstadtsuche. Hauptstadtfunktionen im Interessenkonflikt zwischen Bonn und Berlin, Frankfurt a. M. By Klaus von Beyme. (Edition Suhrkamp 1709, Neue Folge 709) Suhrkamp Verlag, 1991.

Enlargement without Accession: The EC's Response to German Unification. RIIA Discussion Paper no. 36. By David Spence. London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1991. £5.00 pb.

A History of Germany 1815–1990. Fourth Edition. By William Carr. London: Edward Arnold, 1991. £12.95 pb.

The End of the East German Economy. By Philip J. Bryson and Manfred Melzer. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan, 1991. £40.00 hb.

Federal Republic of Germany and EC Membership Evaluated. Edited by Carlchristoph Schweitzer and Detlev Karsten. London: Pinter, 1990. £30.00 hb.

Postmodern Politics in Germany: The Politics of Resentment. By Hans‐Georg Betz. Macmillan: Basingstoke and London, 1991. £35.00 hb.

Germany in the Twentieth Century. By David Childs. London: Batsford, 1991. £25.00 hb.

Upheaval against the Plan: Eastern Europe on the Eve of the Storm. Edited by Peter R. Weilemann, Georg Brunner and Rudolf L. Tökes. Oxford: Berg, 1991. £27.50 hb.

Germany and European Integration. The Common Agricultural Policy: an Area of Conflict. By Gisela Hendriks. Oxford: Berg, 1991. £25.00 hb.

Britain's Policy for West German Rearmament 1950–1955. Cambridge Studies in International Relations 13. By Saki Dockrill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. £27.50 hb.     

The sources of institutional trust in East and West Germany: civic culture or economic performance?

The sources of institutional trust are contested in political science. Cultural explanations focusing on engagement in civic activity compete with rationalist theories that link institutional trust with perceptions of economic performance. This article subjects hypotheses derived from these competing explanations to empirical testing, using data from European Values Surveys for East and West Germany. The results cast considerable doubt over the ability of cultural factors to explain institutional trust. Whilst civic engagement is lower in the East than in the West, levels of institutional trust are indistinguishable. Regression analysis shows that cultural factors have a relatively weak impact on attitudes towards political institutions, and that economic performance is a far better model for predicting institutional trust.