Een nieuw contractenrecht voor Europa: de Principles of European Contract Law vanuit Nederlands perspectief

De ontwerpers van de Lando Principles hopen dat deze uiteindelijk de basis zullen vormen voor een Europees contractenrecht. Maar zal de Nederlandse jurist afstand willen doen van een belangrijk gedeelte van het nog maar kort geleden in werking getreden nieuwe verbintenissenrecht? Op sommige punten blijkt de Lando-Commissie geïnspireerd te zijn door het Nederlandse BW, op andere punten zijn er duidelijk afwijkingen. Ondanks de verschillen kunnen de Principles aanvaardbaar zijn voor de Nederlandse jurist, omdat ze regelingen hebben opgeleverd die superieur zijn aan het huidig Nederlands recht

Secret seducers - True tales of pimps in the red light district of Amsterdam

At the end of the 1990s, a moral panic erupted in the Netherlands about the phenomenon of what came to be known as 'loverboys'. The suspicion was that a growing number of Dutch girls were being groomed by handsome young men who employed all sorts of devious methods to prepare their girlfriends for life as a prostitute. Stories about a new generation of pimps, often of Moroccan origin, regularly appeared in the Dutch media. In this article, based on ethnographic fieldwork on pimps operating in the red-light district of Amsterdam, we describe the ways in which these young men operate and how they justify their behaviour. On the basis of empirical research we intend to present a more realistic picture of what goes on in the prostitution industry and highlight the discrepancy between what is reported in the media and what is actually happening in the prostitution sector. We also examine the background to the moral panic about loverboys and the ways in which these young men were supposedly able to induce many young girls into becoming prostitutes

Health and health care utilisation among asylum seekers and refugees in the Netherlands: design of a study

BACKGROUND: This article discusses the design of a study on the prevalence of health problems (both physical and mental) and the utilisation of health care services among asylum seekers and refugees in the Netherlands, including factors that may be related to their health and their utilisation of these services. METHODS/DESIGN: The study will include random samples of adult asylum seekers and refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and Somali (total planned sample of 600), as these are among the largest groups within the reception centres and municipalities in the Netherlands. The questionnaire that will be used will include questions on physical health (chronic and acute diseases and somatization), mental health (Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25 and Harvard Trauma Questionnaire), utilisation of health care services, pre- and post-migratory traumatic experiences, life-style, acculturation, social support and socio-demographic background. The questionnaire has gone through a translation process (translation and back-translation, several checks and a pilot-study) and cross-cultural adaptation. Respondents will be interviewed by bilingual and bicultural interviewers who will be specifically trained for this purpose. This article discusses the selection of the study population, the chosen outcome measures, the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the measurement instrument, the training of the interviewers and the practical execution of the study. The information provided may be useful for other researchers in this relatively new field of epidemiological research among various groups of asylum seekers and refugees

Australian Food Exporters and the European Legal Environment

The European Union (EU) is Australia's largest trading partner, and largest outside investor. With around 370 million consumers, trading rules that have been harmonised and greatly simplified, and mostly low tariff rates, the market is very attractive to exporters from all over the world. Given the rapid and on-going changes in the EU as integration proceeds, a knowledge of its governing and internal law, and the international trade law which relates to it appears to be a prerequisite for successful exporting by Australian firms. Most textbooks suggest that export strategies (e.g., pricing, distribution) should be based on a well-planned legal strategy, and the primary instrument of legal strategy is the contract (e.g., Fox, 1992). As food exporters are especially vulnerable to risk, given the perishable nature of their products, one would expect that Australian food exporters would be particularly sensitive to the legal environment of the EU. The aim of this paper is to examine the place of the legal environment in Australia-EU business relationships, focussing particularly on an empirical study of food exporters

Free will and psychiatric assessment of criminal responsibility. A parallel with informed consent

In some criminal cases a forensic psychiatrist is asked to make an assessment of the state of mind of the defendant at the time of the legally relevant act. A considerable number of people seem to hold that the basis for this assessment is that free will is required for legal responsibility, and that mental disorders can compromise free will. In fact, because of the alleged relationship between the forensic assessment and free will, researchers in forensic psychiatry also consider the complicated metaphysical discussions on free will relevant to the assessment. At the same time, there is concern about the lack of advancement with respect to clarifying the nature of the forensic assessment. In this paper I argue that, even if free will is considered relevant, there may be no need for forensic researchers to engage into metaphysical discussions on free will in order to make significant progress. I will do so, drawing a parallel between the assessment of criminal responsibility on the one hand, and the medical practice of obtaining informed consent on the other. I argue that also with respect to informed consent, free will is considered relevant, or even crucial. This is the parallel. Yet, researchers on informed consent have not entered into metaphysical debates on free will. Meanwhile, research on informed consent has made significant progress. Based on the parallel with respect to free will, and the differences with respect to research, I conclude that researchers on forensic assessment may not have to engage into metaphysical discussions on free will in order to advance our understanding of this psychiatric practice. © 2010 The Author(s)

Een nieuw contractenrecht voor Europa. De Principles of European Contract Law vanuit Nederlands perspectief

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