When the Line is Crossed... Paths to Control and Sanction Behaviour Necessitating a State Reaction

This article provides an overview of the various forms of proceedings available within 11 European criminal justice systems and reflects upon their core features. It also provides a picture of how far alternative, non-criminal proceedings are used by some of the systems as a different path to imposing a state reaction upon wrong-doers.     

The interplay between IP rights and competition law in the context of standardization

Legal context: This article attempts to analyse the patent ambush scenarioin the context of both competition law and IP rights under USand EC law. The regulators such as the US FTC and European Commissionattempt to combat the abuses, however the legal tools availablerequire a very difficult balancing act between patent law (whichprotects innovation) and competition law (which attempts tohamper abuse of the free market rules). Key points: The patent ambush scenario employed within a standard-settingorganization poses an important threat of jeopardizing the goalsof achieving a common standard. The response to the problemconcentrates on ensuring that the rules applicable to standard-settingorganizations' members prevent abuse and/or reaching reasonableand non-discriminatory licensing terms to stop deriving unduebenefits from proprietary technologies embedded in the standard. Practical significance: As the information exchange technologies become increasinglypopular, the need to ensure interoperability between productsof different manufacturers employing these technologies becomescrucial for market success. This consequently increases thedanger of malignant abuse of co-operation within the standardsetting-organizations. The law may need to step in to securetechnological progress free of risks such as the patent ambush.     

Prozess- und Vertretungskosten eines auf Zahlung des Pflichtteils gerichteten Verfahrens als die Pflichtteilsbemessungsgrundlage mindernde Passiva der Verlassenschaft?

Die nach dem Erbfall und vor der Einantwortung entstandenen, mit der Besorgung und Verwaltung des Nachlasses verbundenen Kosten sind als Erbgangs-(Erbfalls-) schulden Passiva der Verlassenschaft. Passiva sind nur jene Prozess- und Vertretungskosten, die im Zusammenhang mit der Besorgung und Verwaltung des Nachlasses iSv § 810 ABGB stehen. Die Vertretung der Verlassenschaft in einem auf Bezahlung des Pflichtteils gerichteten Verfahren geh?rt nicht zur Besorgung und Verwaltung des Nachlasses. Das Verfahren dient nicht der Realisierung oder Erhaltung des Nachlasses, sondern lediglich der Abkl?rung, wie hoch die Ansprüche des Pflichtteilsberechtigten sind. Hingegen sind die Kosten der Inventarerrichtung und die Gebühren des Gerichtskommiss?rs zu den Passiva zu z?hlen. Bei der Beurteilung, welcher Wert der Liegenschaften (Ertragsoder Verkehrswert) in der Verlassenschaft anzusetzen ist, ist es mitunter nicht m?glich, den Wert aller Liegenschaften nach derselben Methode zu ermitteln. Es ist auf die Widmung der Grundstücke abzustellen.     

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC x GC-TOFMS) for drug screening and confirmation

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) is applied to analysis of drug standard mixtures containing 78 drugs of interest in forensic samples. For this study, underivatised drugs were employed. While several of the drugs were not detected at the low concentrations employed in the samples, most could be satisfactorily assigned their first and second dimension retentions in the GC x GC retention plane. For this study, time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) detection was used. The enhanced separation possible in GC x GC is demonstrated, and typical linearity and apparatus precision are shown for tramadol, diazepam, olanzapine and desipramine using selected qualifier ions. Mass spectral library search quality for the detection of drugs in a selection of authentic forensic cases, along with retention position in the 2D retention plane, is used to support positive identification of the presence of the drugs. The analysis of 'difficult' drugs paracetamol and phenytoin is shown to produce anomalous chromatographic peak shape in the 2D plane, whereas most drugs gave acceptable peak shapes. The GC x GC technique was applied to screening drugs in forensic samples, with either flame ionisation (FID) or TOFMS detection, and compared favourably with conventional single column GC-MS analysis when tested for diazepam in an authentic forensic study.     

Journalism ethics and Levinas' Third: interruption in a world of multiple Others

This paper develops a theory of journalism ethics centered on the concept of interruption. Interruption provides a space in which the “Other” can speak; an instance in which those with whom we have no other contact but through news media can disrupt us. While steeped in Levinasian philosophy, the theory of journalism ethics developed here challenges some of its key tenets: unlimited responsibility for the Other and the single passive ethical imperative “interrupt me.” In a world inhabited by a multitude of others, a dogmatic reading of Levinas cannot foster a “community of interruption” in which the news media play a crucial role. Ultimately, to achieve such a community, the “Third” (the Other's other) must be privileged over the Other and the passive ethical imperative requires a complementary active imperative best stated as “let me interrupt!”     

Do Formalist Judges Abide By Their Abstract Principles? A Two-Country Study in Adjudication

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - Recent literature in experimental philosophy has postulated the existence of the...     

Analysis of friction ridge evidence for trace amounts of paracetamol in various pharmaceutical industries by Raman spectroscopy

The detection of potentially harmful substances presents a multifaceted challenge. On one hand, it can directly save lives, on the other, it can significantly aid and enhance police work, thereby increasing the effectiveness of investigations. The research conducted in this study primarily aims to identify paracetamol in fingerprints, considering situations involving direct contact of a person with paracetamol either chronically or in a single dose. The identification procedure presented, utilizing Raman spectroscopy, aims to rapidly detect the xenobiotic following ingestion by an individual, which involves touching the tablet with their fingers—this can be termed as touch evidence in forensic science investigations. Additionally, the authors focus on assessing the impact of additives present in drugs containing paracetamol as the main active ingredient. The screening results obtained will enable us to analyze the composition of drugs in terms of potentially toxic substances, and their influence on the physicochemical activity of the active substance. We successfully identified the paracetamol molecule using a noninvasive forensic trace detection method. Samples in the form of common drugs containing 500 mg of paracetamol were studied. Throughout the study, comprehensive validation of the method was ensured through the utilization of a statistical model, which excluded sensitivity to the presence of other substances, whether additives or from the external environment. The proposed approach to trace the content of substances in fingerprint using Raman scattering analysis provides a useful starting point to enhance current analytical methods not only in forensic science but also in toxicology.