Die Notverordnungen des kroatischen Präsidenten aus den Jahren 1991 und 1992

U radu se razmatraju uredbe iz nužde koje je donio predsjednik Republike Franjo Tuđman u drugoj polovici 1991. i početkom 1992. godine u vrijeme otvorene agresije na Republiku Hrvatsku. Glavnina uredbi donesena je 10. rujna 1991., a do kraja 1991. godine donesene su gotovo sve uredbe iz nužde. Uredbama su regulirani klasični državni resori poput pravosuđa, unutarnjih poslova i vojske, no velik dio uredbi regulirao je i javne službe te gospodarstvo.At the beginning, this paper gives a brief notional historical overview of emergency decrees, after which follows a reconstruction of events in 1990 that led to the introduction of articles 17 and 101 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia as Constitutional decrees relating to states of emergency. The central part of the paper deals with emergency decrees passed by the Croatian President Franjo Tuđman at the time of the open aggression against the Republic of Croatia in the second half of 1991 and the beginning of 1992. In this section, using sources, especially the minutes of the Commission for Constitutional Matters of the Croatian Partliament and the minutes of the plenary sessions of the Croatian Parliament, and also relevant literature, the paper sheds light on the circumstances under which the decrees were passed and approved by the Croatian Parliament, and thus provides a new interpretation of the decrees. After discussing the circumstances under which the decrees were passed, the author deals with various aspects of the decrees\u27 content, first noting the basic characteristics of the decrees, and then classifying them according to fields, such as: internal affairs, defense and justice, and also those covering public services and the economy. While discussing particular decrees the author sets out only the main provisions of the decrees with a view to presenting their basic characteristics, such as the limitation of constitutional rights and the centralisation of public services and of the economy. In the last part of the paper, the author analyzes the constitutionality of the decrees and their lifting. The question of whether the Parliament could convene is paramount in considering the constitutionality of the decrees, since this is important in establishing whether the President of the Republic had the power to pass decrees limiting constitutional rights. The author also considers the decision of the Constitutional Court to approve the constitutionality of the decrees. The lifting of the decrees is analyzed with special consideration given to the circumstances leading to this.Am Anfang dieser Arbeit wird eine kurze begriffshistorische Übersicht über die Notverordnungen präsentiert, wonach rekonstruiert wird, wie die den Ausnahmezustand regelnden Artikel 17 und 101 der Verfassung der Republik Kroatien von 1990 zustande kamen. Der zentrale Teil dieser Arbeit befasst sich mit den Notverordnungen, die der damalige kroatische Staatspräsident Franjo Tuđman während des offenen Angriffskrieges gegen die Republik Kroatien in der zweiten Hälfte des Jahres 1991 und Anfang 1992 erließ. Dabei wird versucht, anhand des Quellenstudiums, vor allem der Niederschriften zur Arbeit der parlamentarischen Kommission für Verfassungsfragen, der Protokolle zu den Plenarsitzungen des Parlaments der Republik Kroatien (Sabor), aber auch unter Rückgriff auf die entsprechende Literatur die Umstände des Erlasses der Notverordnungen sowie ihrer Bestätigung durch den Sabor zu beleuchten und auf diese Weise einen Beitrag zur Reinterpretation der betreffenden Verordnungen zu leisten. Nach einer dementsprechenden Klärung werden die inhaltlichen Aspekte der Verordnungen dargestellt, indem zunächst deren Hauptmerkmale bestimmt werden und danach eine Zuordnung zum Bereich des Inneren, der Verteidigung und der Justiz beziehungsweise zum Bereich der öffentlichen Aufgaben und der Wirtschaft erfolgt. Innerhalb der Darstellung einzelner Verordnungen versuchen wir, lediglich ihre wesentlichen Bestimmungen zu präsentieren, an denen die wichtigsten Merkmale wie die Beschränkung der Verfassungsrechte und die Zentralisierung der öffentlichen Aufgaben und der Wirtschaft deutlich werden. Im letzten Teil der Arbeit werden die Verfassungskonformität der Verordnungen und das Ende ihrer Gültigkeit analysiert. Die Verfassungsmäßigkeit der Verordnungen wird in erster Linie unter dem Aspekt untersucht, ob das Parlament hätte zusammentreten können, wovon schließlich die Zuständigkeit des Präsidenten der Republik für das Erlassen von verfassungsrechtsbeschränkenden Verordnungen abhing. Ebenfalls wird die Entscheidung des Verfassungsgerichts besprochen, in der es den Verordnungen Verfassungsmäßigkeit bescheinigt. Die Aufhebung der Verordnungen wird hinsichtlich der dafür verantwortlichen Umstände analysiert

Endocrine disruption : Fact or urban legend?

Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are substances that cause adverse health effects via endocrine-mediated mechanisms in an intact organism or its progeny or (sub) populations. Purported EDCs in personal care products include 4-MBC (UV filter) or parabens that showed oestrogenic activity in screening tests, although regulatory toxicity studies showed no adverse effects on reproductive endpoints. Hormonal potency is the key issue of the safety of EDCs. Oestrogen-based drugs, e.g. the contraceptive pill or the synthetic oestrogen DES, possess potencies up to 7 orders of magnitude higher than those of PCP ingredients; yet, in utero exposure to these drugs did not adversely affect fertility or sexual organ development of offspring unless exposed to extreme doses. Additive effects of EDs are unlikely due to the multitude of mechanisms how substances may produce a hormone-like activity; even after uptake of different substances with a similar mode of action, the possibility of additive effects is reduced by different absorption, metabolism and kinetics. This is supported by a number of studies on mixtures of chemical EDCs. Overall, despite of 20 years of research a human health risk from exposure to low concentrations of exogenous chemical substances with weak hormone-like activities remains an unproven and unlikely hypothesis.publishe

Potency matters: Thresholds govern endocrine activity

AbstractWhether thresholds exist for endocrine active substances and for endocrine disrupting effects of exogenous chemicals has been posed as a question for regulatory policy by the European Union. This question arises from a concern that the endocrine system is too complex to allow estimations of safe levels of exposure to any chemical with potential endocrine activity, and a belief that any such chemical can augment, retard, or disrupt the normal background activity of endogenous hormones. However, vital signaling functions of the endocrine system require it to continuously discriminate the biological information conveyed by potent endogenous hormones from a more concentrated background of structurally similar, endogenous molecules with low hormonal potential. This obligatory ability to discriminate important hormonal signals from background noise can be used to define thresholds for induction of hormonal effects, without which normal physiological functions would be impossible. From such thresholds, safe levels of exposure can be estimated. This brief review highlights how the fundamental principles governing hormonal effects – affinity, efficacy, potency, and mass action – dictate the existence of thresholds and why these principles also define the potential that exogenous chemicals might have to interfere with normal endocrine functioning