Public interest versus interest groups: a political economy analysis of allowance allocation under the EU emissions trading scheme

In a theoretical analysis, we use a common agency model to show that lobbying by energy-intensive sectors covered under an emissions trading scheme (ETS) shifts the regulatory burden of an economy-wide emission constraint to sectors outside the ETS. The emission tax on the latter becomes inefficiently high such that lobbying does not only induce burden shifting but also efficiency losses. A complementary empirical analysis for a cross section of German firms under the EU emissions trading scheme supports our theoretical result on the role of lobbying on allowance allocation.     

Torture in Israel

Conclusion The High Court's verdict is a major step forward insofar as that the existing institutionalized GSS torture practices are declared unlawful and are no longer possible in any institutionalized form. It appears, however, likely that Israel will attempt to reintroduce the legal use of different forms of “physical pressure” under specific circumstances. The legality of these forms in Israel is then likely to be tested by a High Court of Justice which is still clearly ambivalent and far from unequivocal in declaring all forms of physical means during interrogations to be unlawful. Whereas the Court's ruling declaring the present guidelines and various practices of “moderate physical force” unlawful is a positive step from a human rights perspective and in the context of the Middle East peace process, its significance might thus eventually turn out to be less of a breakthrough than initially thought. The international community has ample reason to continue to follow Israel critically regarding possible infractions of the Convention and the ICCPR. I would like to thank Jeroen Gutter and Ian Seiderman for their assistance with this article.     

Non-Zero-Sum Leadership Games: Is Facilitative Leadership a Win-Win?

According to the concept of facilitative leadership, leaders can strengthen their own leadership by strengthening the other players in the game. However, quantitative empirical evidence that such facilitative leadership processes can lead to win-win situations has been lacking. This article develops a way to detect such non-zero-sum leadership games building on an index constructed to measure political leadership in surveys. The technique is applied to a case study focusing on Regional Mayors in Denmark, and the empirical findings clearly demonstrate that, in this case, the leadership game indeed resembles a non-zero-sum pattern.     

A report of the 2000 and 2001 paternity testing workshops of the English speaking working group of the international society for forensic genetics

During the last 10 years, the English Speaking Working Group (ESWG) of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG) has once a year arranged a Paternity Testing Workshop in which blood samples as well as a questionnaire concerning laboratory strategies were distributed to the participating laboratories. In 2000 and 2001, paper challenges were included in the workshops. Here, we present the results of the 2000 and 2001 Paternity Testing Workshops. The numbers of participating laboratories were 33 (2000) and 36 (2001). A total of 36% (2000) and 31% (2001) of the laboratories submitted typing results of variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) investigated with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and single locus probes (SLPs). A total of 91% (2000) and 86% (2001) submitted typing results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based systems. Typing errors occurred in 0.3% of the submitted PCR-based results in 2000 and in 0.1% in 2001. The results of the paper challenges showed a high degree of variation in the formulas used for calculation of the weight of evidence of rare events such as inconsistencies or possible silent alleles. The majority of the laboratories used the same formulas for calculations of frequently occurring events.     

Photogrammetric Documentation of Regions of Interest at Autopsy—A Pilot Study

In this pilot study, the authors tested whether photogrammetry can replace or supplement physical measurements made during autopsies and, based on such measurements, whether virtual computer models may be applicable in forensic reconstructions. Photogrammetric and physical measurements of markers denoting wounds on five volunteers were compared. Virtual models of the volunteers were made, and the precision of the markers' locations on the models was tested. Twelve of 13 mean differences between photogrammetric and physical measurements were below 1 cm, which indicates that the photogrammetric method has a high accuracy. The precision of the markers' location on the models was somewhat less, although the method is still promising and potentially superior to the current procedures used for reconstructions. The possibility to measure any distance on a body, even after the autopsy is concluded and the corpse is no longer available, is one of the biggest benefits of photogrammetry.     

Influence of Velocity on Variability in Gait Kinematics: Implications for Recognition in Forensic Science

Closed circuit television (CCTV) footage is often available from crime scenes and may be used to compare perpetrators with suspects. Usually, the footage comprises incomplete gait cycles at different velocities, making gait pattern identification from crimes difficult. This study investigated the concurrence of joint angles throughout a gait cycle at three different velocities (3.0, 4.5, 6.0 km/h). Six datasets at each velocity were collected from 16 men. A variability range VR throughout the gait cycle at each velocity for each joint angle for each person was calculated. The joint angles at each velocity were compared pairwise, and whenever this showed values within the VR of this velocity, the case was positive. By adding the positives throughout the gait cycle, phases with high and low concurrences were located; peak concurrence was observed at mid‐stance phase. Striving for the same velocity for the suspect and perpetrator is recommended.     

Variations in Member States’ Preliminary References to the Court of Justice—Are Structural Factors (Part of) the Explanation?

The preliminary reference procedure in Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which enables national courts to request the Court of Justice to provide a ruling on the interpretation or validity of an EU legal act, is widely considered to be the jewel in the crown of EU law. When considering the number of references from different Member States, it will become immediately apparent that there are considerable variations. This article examines to what extent these variations may be explained by three structural factors, namely (1) population size, (2) willingness to litigate and (3) Member State compliance with EU law. It is concluded that some—but not all—of the variations in number of references from Member State judiciaries may be attributed to structural factors rather than being merely a reflection of different Member State courts’ willingness to make use of Article 267 TFEU on such references (the so‐called behavioural factors).     

The transportation-credit mortgage: a post-mortem

Abstract

Over the past decade, public housing has become the nation's “housing of last resort.” This article examines the emergence of this social role and describes the conditions of resident economic and social distress that have accompanied it. In this context, the article also evaluates the problem assessment and recommendations of the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing, which released its final report in August 1992. This evaluation is used as the basis for proposing a new social role for public housing defined around the concept of social capital.

The commission correctly identified concentrations of resident distress, such as high proportions of extremely poor and female‐headed families, as a major problem facing distressed public housing. However, the recommendations of the commission were much less satisfying. Rather than confronting directly the tenant selection policies that have produced these aggregations of resident distress, the commission held to an unrealistic optimism that social services and economic development initiatives could relieve these conditions. For changes in public housing tenant selection policies to occur, an alternative social role for public housing must be defined. Under this alternative role, a primary objective of the public housing program would be to give residents access to social capital. Such an approach would ensure that families of the working poor are integrated with the nonworking poor in public housing developments, thereby fostering those sinews of community connection and trust the essential features of social capital and the sources of hope and opportunity.     

Comparison of handmarks in manual strangulation: an experimental study

A police case with a strangulated woman with fingermarks on the neck and two suspects identifying each other as the perpetrator set off a laboratory experiment. Twenty-one males participated in the study. Blue paint was applied to their fingers, after which they grasped a neck dummy and pressed hard as if strangulating someone. The imprint was removed from the dummy, and their hands were photographed. Five imprints were randomly chosen and superimposed on the hand photographs in blind trials. In no cases did we match an imprint to the correct hand. However, in four cases we matched the imprint with several hands, one of which was the correct one. This means we were able to exclude nonmatches in 4/5 cases. Overall, matching of hands and fingermarks is difficult and inconclusive. Objective criteria for matching are difficult to establish, and matching is probably best suited for cases with specific anatomical features.     

The paraphilia-related disorders: an investigation of the relevance of the concept in sexual murderers

Paraphilic disorders (PAs) and sexual preoccupation are known risk factors for recidivism in sexual offenders. Nonparaphilic sexual excessive behaviors-so-called paraphilia-related disorders (PRDs), like paraphilias, are also characterized by sexual preoccupation and volitional impairment and can be diagnosed in paraphilic men. The prevalence and clinical significance of PRDs in sexual homicide perpetrators, however, is unknown. We investigated the relationship between PAs and PRDs retrospectively in a sample of 161 sexual murderers. Four groups were compared: men without a PA or a PRD diagnosis, men with at least one PRD but no PA, men with at least one PA but no PRD, and finally, those with a combination of both (PA+PRD). The PA+PRD group had the most lifetime cumulative sexual impulsivity disorders, more developmental problems, the highest persistent frequency of sexual activity, the highest number of previous sexual offences, more sexual sadism, and compulsive masturbation. Men of the PRD subsample had suffered more from childhood sexual abuse, showed more promiscuity, psychopathy, and alcohol problems. The use of the PRD concept in this special offender group should be further investigated with prospectively designed studies.