Harassment and Intimidation of Parliamentary Candidates in the United Kingdom

The use of political violence to attain political goals has long been a source of concern. Once thought to be exclusive to countries with high levels of general violence, recent evidence suggests that harassment and intimidation of political elites in the UK is more widespread than previously thought. Using data from the 2017 general election candidate survey, we find that four in every ten candidates experienced at least one type of harassment. Evidence suggests that women and young candidates are more likely to suffer from harassment and intimidation. We conclude by formulating an agenda for future research, focussing, in particular, on the perception of harassment and the effect of harassment on political careers.     

Effective evaluation of projects on violence against women and girls

What makes evaluations useful for interventions on violence against women and girls (VAWG)? This article reports on a qualitative comparative analysis of 39 evaluations, and shows that it takes a combination of elements to produce good evaluation effects. It identifies eight configurations of conditions which have generated effective evaluations. Key elements were the evaluation context, the evaluators’ sensitivity to gender and to the participants’ rights and security, and consultation with persons considered to be the ultimate “beneficiaries” of the intervention. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches could lead to effective evaluation. The article concludes with recommendations for evaluation users.     

Scheduling of new psychoactive substance the Swiss way: A review and critical analysis

Since the introduction of the European Early Warning System in 2005, >700 new psychoactive substances (NPS) have been listed. This review article presents for the first time the Swiss narcotic law in perspective of scheduling of NPS, and compares it to the regulations of the German speaking neighbours Austria and Germany.The Swiss way is a fast and effective way for scheduling NPS, with the purpose to restrict drug trafficking and for controlling the NPS drug market: the legal basis for scheduling substances of abuse is the “Law about narcotics and psychotropic substances” (BetmG, SR 812.121), which includes the “narcotic law directory (BetmVV-EDI, SR 812.121.11) suitable for listing all controlled substances. The BetmVV-EDI, SR 812.121.11 contains seven indices, with index e specifically designed for the fast scheduling of NPS. Newly appearing NPS can either be controlled under a structure analogues definition or by listing single substances. The list of single substances is updated at least once per year, and structure analogues definitions can be implemented, in order to keep track with new developments on the NPS market. The latest version from November 30th 2018 contains ten different structure analogue definitions and 207 single substances. Requirements to list NPS are their appearance on the NPS market, suspected psychotropic effects and their suggestions by Forensic professionals. As soon as substances are newly placed, on Schedule I of the 1961 Convention or Schedule II of the 1971 Convention by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs of the World Health Organization they can easily be transferred from index e to index a-d of the BetmVV-EDI, SR 812.121.11. The Austrian law uses a structure analogue and single substances approach (introduced in 2012, one update in 2016), whereas the German NPS law (established in 2016, no update yet) only lists two structure-analogue-definitions. All three legislations have defined which core structures, kinds and sites of substitutions are regulated.     

"Fantasiegeld" als Deliktsobjekt der Geldfälschung

Die Existenz einer bestimmten, als Zahlungsmittel gesetzlich vorgesehenen Banknote als Vorbild ist keine Voraussetzung des Nachmachens. Das Falsifikat muss im Wesentlichen die von der Allgemeinheit als für ein gesetzliches Zahlungsmittel wesensbestimmend angesehenen Merkmale aufweisen. Unter der Voraussetzung der Verwechslungstauglichkeit kommt auch "Fantasiegeld" als Deliktsobjekt der §§ 232, 233, 236 und 241 StGB in Frage. Wer falsches oder verf?lschtes Geld weitergibt, erfüllt in der Regel neben der jeweiligen strafbaren Handlung des 13. Abschnitts auch den Tatbestand des Betrugs. Idealkonkurrierende Verwirklichung der Tatbest?nde ist begrifflich nicht ausgeschlossen – Exklusivit?t scheidet aus. Das Verh?ltnis der Tatbest?nde ist nach den Grunds?tzen der Scheinkonkurrenz zu l?sen, wobei Spezialit?t mangels vollst?ndiger überdeckung eines Tatbestands durch einen – weitere Elemente enthaltenden – anderen ausscheidet. § 245 Abs 3 StPO gew?hrt kein Recht auf jederzeitige Besprechung zwischen Verteidiger und Angeklagtem. § 249 Abs 1 StPO enth?lt das Recht des Angekl, selbst Fragen an jede zu vernehmende Person zu stellen. Ein Anspruch, dieses Fragerecht in bestimmter Form wahrzunehmen, ist weder aus dieser Bestimmung noch aus Art 6 Abs 3 lit d MRK abzuleiten.     

UNWCC Policy on the Prosecution of Torture 1943–1948

This article provides a cursory overview of the development of torture as a war crime and/or a crime against humanity. While torture may at one time have been an accepted method of interrogation and punishment, matters changed in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. After presenting the approaches to torture common before World War II, the article focuses on the United Nations War Crimes Commission’s (UNWCC) internal debates on the crime, as well as it’s scrutiny of the national war crimes prosecution programmes of its members. As torture was, however, not at the core of UNWCC’s discussions, the author calls for further comparative research on the legacy of the UNWCC, particularly in the records of national authorities which were responsible for the prosecution of war crimes following World War II.     

A Crime Against Humanity

The German Red-Green coalition has declared unlimited solidarity with the US government in its response to the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Yet, very few questions have been raised by the mainstream media, and any 'inopportune' comments that have worked their way into the press, questioning the legitimacy of the response, have been declared scandalous. This article argues that the time may have come to deal with long-term developments and potential consequences of today's politics and policies and perhaps it may even be possible for us to begin to understand what is going on--a possibility that should not be ignored out of an archaic thirst for revenge.