Constitutional Law (kempo)

In 1976 Carl Heymanns Verlag published the first volume of a series on Japanese law. A recent addition to this collection covering areas as diverse as civil and criminal procedure, labor law, nuclear energy law, and international law, is Miyazawa Toshiyoshi\u27s (1899-1976) book on constitutional law. With this German translation, Robert Heuser and Yamasaki Kazuaki provide their readers with the first systematical overview on Japanese constitutional law in a western language

The Reunification of Germany: Comments on a Legal Maze

In its Preamble, the Basic Law - the constitution - of the Federal Republic of Germany declares itself a transitional order put in place until all Germans can freely decide to live in a reunified Germany. The Preamble is evidence of both history and aspirations of the western part of Germany that emerged from the Second World War. It is now one of the legal foundations for an event that only a year ago few thought was possible: the merging of the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany into one German state. In its preamble and in several other provisions the Basic Law kept the door open for a home coming without precedent. Some said this door had, over the years, become a legal fiction. Yet the events of the past year, culminating in the opening of the Berlin Wall on the night of November 9, 1989, came as a surprise even to the most optimistic observers. The citizens of the German Democratic Republic forced the door open with peaceful means and the most compelling of all passwords: We are the People

The Responsability of States for Environmental Harm in a Multinational Context — Problems and Trends

Le présent article comporte d'abord une discussion des parallèles entre les problèmes de la responsabilité pour les dommages environnementaux aux niveaux national et international. Dans les deux cas, les règles établies pour des problèmes et priorités d'une autre époque devaient être appliquées aux problèmes complexes de l’environnement de notre temps. Mais les deux systèmes se sont avérés inadéquats à traiter les problèmes actuels de l’environnement et ils ont dû évoluer de façon à mieux faire face aux défis. La deuxième partie illustre, dans ses grandes lignes, les lacunes du système international et des règles de la responsabilité de l’Etat. Ces lacunes sont ancrées dans le coeur du système, concentré sur les intérêts des États souverains. Elles comprennent l'imprécision des règles, la mésentente concernant le genre de responsabilité (faute ou responsabilité stricte), la considération de nombreuses activités polluantes comme « légales », le caractère réactif du système et l'incapacité du système à traiter convenablement les coûts écologiques plutôt que les dommages aux intérêts de l'État. La troisième partie comprend l’énumération des développements et des orientations qui pourraient fournir des réponses aux problèmes mentionnés ci-dessus. Les solutions possibles comprennent l'établissement de règles protégeant les intérêts des États souverains de la communauté internationale, l'institution de régimes spéciaux de responsabilité pour les problèmes environnementaux plus précisément soulignés, les efforts de la Commission de droit international pour instituer un régime de responsabilité pour risques et la diffusion des régimes conçus pour prévenir ou résoudre les problèmes de l'environnement.The paper begins with a discussion of parallels between problems of environmental liability law at the national and international levels. At both levels, rules built upon concerns and priorities of another era had to be applied to the complex environmental problems of our times. Both systems have proven to be inadequate in addressing modern environmental concerns and have evolved to better meet the challenge. The second part of the paper will highlight the shortcomings of the international system and the law of state responsibility. They are rooted in the system's focus on the interests of sovereign states and include the vagueness of the relevant rules, the disagreement as to the standard of liability (fault or strict liability), the perception of many polluting activities as « lawful », the system's reactive character, the system's failure to effectively deal with ecological costs rather than injury to state interests. In its third part, the paper will survey developments and trends that may provide solutions to the aforementioned problems. Possible solutions include the emergence of rules that protect the common interests of the international community rather than the sovereign interests of states, the development of special liability regimes for more narrowly defined environmental concerns (generally : ultrahazardous activities), efforts of the International Law Commission to develop a risk liability regime, the proliferation of regimes designed to prevent or manage environmental problems

International Law and the Practice of Legality: Stability and Change

Drawing on the practice-turn in constructivism and in international relations (IR) theory more generally, we argue that a particular approach to managing stability and change is inherent in, and indeed characteristic of, legality and the rule of law in international as in domestic law. Our "interactional law" framework places particular emphasis on what we call the "practice of legality". This concept is central to understanding how law can both enable and constrain state actions, and why international law is a distinctive language of justification and contestation. In turn, the focus on stability and change is helpful because it directly confronts some of the persistent doubts and assumptions about international law, in particular in relation to international politics. Our work is animated by the intuition that the dominant views in IR and international law scholarship underestimate international law's capacity to mediate stability and change, in part because they focus on the surface of law (treaties, statutes and so on) and external factors (interests, enforcement). They neglect the deeper structure of what makes norms "law", and the distinctive practices that account for both its relative stability and its capacity for change

Just war and military morale: a brief reflection on the correlation between the legality of war and the moral repercussions for members of US and UK forces arising from the questionable legality of the campaign Iraqi Freedom of March 2003

Does it matter to a member of the military whether the military campaign in which he is taking part is lawful or not? Despite the observation that the crime of aggression (post Kampala 2010) constitutes a ‘leadership crime par excellence,’ which limits any (future) criminal responsibility accordingly, the legality or illegality of any military action under international law can create moral implications for the common foot soldier and mid-level officer and also have a tangible impact on the national legal frameworks under which these forces operate. This short article uses the example of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003) to discuss the repercussions of a—most likely—illegal military campaign for individual members of democratic armed forces before the background of the present discussion of NATO led action in Libya

Promoting medical competencies through a didactic tutor qualification programme – a qualitative study based on the CanMEDS Physician Competency Framework

Background: In peer-led tutorial courses, qualified medical students (“tutors”) provide their peers with opportunities to deepen their theoretical knowledge effectively and to practice clinical skills already in preclinical semesters. At the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, a structured medical didactic qualification programme prepares and trains future tutors for their responsibilities. This programme consists of four modules: 1. medical didactics and group leadership, 2. subject-specific training, 3. performance of tutorial courses as well as 4. collegial advice and reflection on the tutors’ activities. The aim of this study is to systematically analyse and present the development of role competencies for medical tutors based on the CanMEDS Physician Competency Framework through the didactic qualification programme. Methods: We applied a qualitative research approach to detect CanMEDS role competencies acquisition within the tutor qualification programme. The CanMEDS framework describes key competencies, grouped thematically under seven professional roles. Two tutors and three training coordinators independently assigned the individual modules of the tutor qualification programme to the key competencies of the CanMEDS framework. Tutors and training coordinators compared and discussed the allocations within the groups in a consensus finding process. All authors analysed the findings in order to find out the so-called “hidden curriculum”. The views of both groups are presented separately. Results: The training programme promotes the acquisition of competencies in all seven CanMEDS roles. The roles of the scholar and the leader are promoted in all modules. In addition, the first and fourth module focus predominately on the role of the collaborator, the second on the role of the medical expert and communicator, and the fourth on the role of the professional. Conclusions: The systematic analysis through assignment of the CanMEDS roles to the individual modules of the tutor qualification programme documents the comprehensive acquisition of competencies, not only with regard to the tutor activity, but generally with regard to the later role of the physician. The reflection on one’s own competency acquisition can support the promotion of corresponding competencies in the qualification programme and their transfer into the professional practice later

Biodiversity, Species Protection, and Animal Welfare Under International Law

The chapter explores the influence of the concept of animal welfare on international biodiversity law. A close examination of the recent evolution of this branch of international law shows that animal welfare has an ambivalent place in biodiversity-related agreements. Indeed, while welfare is only a faint consideration in the development of international regimes dealing with biodiversity as a whole, the concept has become an essential element for agreements dealing with the conservation of specific endangered species. Despite its role in these agreements, the place of animal welfare in international biodiversity law highlights that this corpus of rules is currently insufficient to be an effective tool for the protection of wildlife welfare. The last section of this study suggests that the adoption of international rules aiming at ensuring the protection of wild animals’ welfare could serve the double purpose of strengthening the conservation purpose of biodiversity regimes while also filling the welfare gap of international biodiversity law

The 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution: Assessing its Effectiveness as a Multilateral Environmental Regime after 35 Years

There is no definitive approach to assessing the effectiveness of international environmental regimes. In order to explore the regime established by the 1979 Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution this article broadly integrates the approach to effectiveness taken by Peter H. Sand in The Effectiveness of International Environmental Agreements, and Daniel Bodansky in The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law. The article finds that compliance, institutional, and normative effectiveness can be evaluated relatively confidently. An effectiveness assessment of the long-range transboundary air pollution (LRTAP) regime indicates that, on the whole, it has helped states to reach agreement on contentious issues and achieve results in air pollution reduction. However, it faces significant challenges with regard to participation, implementation procedures, empowerment of domestic stakeholders, and funding. The article provides an in-depth and up-to-date look at the LRTAP regime, including the most recent amendments and its relationship with European Union and international law