When Soering went to Iraq… : problems of jurisdiction, extraterritorial effect and norm conflicts in light of the European Court of Human Rights’ Al-Saadoon case

In its admissibility decision in the Al-Saadoon case the ECtHR held that the United Kingdom had jurisdiction over the applicants, who had been arrested by British forces and kept in a British-run military prison in Iraq. Just before the respective mandate of the Security Council expired on 31 December 2008, the applicants were transferred to Iraqi custody at Iraqi request and thereby exposed to the risk of an unfair trial followed by capital punishment. In this respect, the case resembles the Soering case, although the applicants were, unlike Soering, not on British territory but on occupied Iraqi soil before they were handed over. This aspect raises the question of Iraqi sovereignty as a norm competing with the UK's human rights obligations. The authors trace back the ECtHR's case law concerning the extraterritorial application of the Convention and analyse the UK judgments and the ECtHR's admissibility decision in the Al-Saadoon affair from this angle. Furthermore they consider the doctrinal consequences of the ECHR's extraterritorial effect in cases like Soering and Al-Saadoon, where contracting parties violate guarantees of the Convention by exposing a person within their jurisdiction to a risk of a treatment contrary to these guarantees by a third state. Finally, they test the argument brought forward by the UK that not transferring the applicants would have violated Iraqi sovereignty and establish patterns how the ECtHR and the UK Courts did cope in the past with international law norms potentially competing with the Convention

International law - a constitution for mankind? : an attempt at a re-appraisal with an analysis of constitutional principles

One of the current trends in international law scholarship is the question of which influences specific legal cultures have on the understanding of international law. This contribution will trace the conditions of a German perspective and analyse the debate against the background of positive law. We will try to assess what the debate adds to the general theory of international law, how it fits into demands of legitimacy of international governance, and whether it contributes to a sensible reconstruction of current law. Furthermore, we try to develop our own perspective that matches the system of international law and is plausible in terms of international legal theory. For that purpose, we will first take It is probably in this context that the contention has to be understood that the ongoing debate on the constitutionalisation of public international law is particularly European, if not German. Whether or not this is the case is difficult to investigate with a lawyer’s tools. However, the idea that international law is the constitution of mankind has found many adherents in German legal writings. This contribution will trace the conditions of a German perspective and analyse the debate against the background of positive law. We will try to assess what the debate adds to the general theory of international law, how it fits into demands of legitimacy of international governance, and whether it contributes to a sensible reconstruction of current law. Furthermore, we try to develop our own perspective that matches the system of international law and is plausible in terms of international legal theory. For that purpose, we will first take up the debate and find its place in the landscape of international legal theory. In this context, we try to shed light on the central concepts used or presupposed when constitutionalisation is discussed by German-speaking scholars (see below, section B). Furthermore, we will discuss structures in positive law which are used as arguments in the debate (section C). Finally, we will try to give an account of constitutionalisation in terms of both sources doctrine and legal theory (section D), before drawing conclusions from the discussion (section E)

Ten years of the Riester pension scheme: No reason to celebrate

Since their introduction, the Riester pension scheme and the individual Riester products have become less beneficial to savers. Contracts concluded today will often lead to lower returns compared to contracts concluded in 2001. From a social perspective, meaning pension benefits in relation to individual saving contributions plus state subsidy, overall returns on all insurance-based products are very low. This is due to the general decline in returns on the capital market and, in particular, to a series of government-mandated certification and calculation rules. Urgently needed structural reforms include the abolition of exchange costs, standardized cost information, certification with regards to content instead of formal certification and the regulation of calculation methods. In addition, limiting the number of products is also recommended. Given the shortcomings of the Riester system, there is good reason to fundamentally rethink old-age pension provision policy. In doing so, a targeted reduction or even elimination of extra public funding ought not to be taboo. The tax saved could be used to strengthen the pay-as-you-go state pension scheme

Zehn Jahre Riester-Rente: kein Grund zum Feiern

Die Riester-Rente beziehungsweise die einzelnen Riester-Produkte haben sich seit ihrer Einführung zuungunsten von Sparern verändert. Verträge, die heute abgeschlossen werden, führen oftmals zu einer geringeren Rendite als 2001 vereinbarte Verträge. Insgesamt sind die Renditen aus gesellschaftlicher Sicht, das heißt, die Rentenleistungen bezogen auf den Sparbeitrag des Einzelnen plus staatliche Zulage, bei allen versicherungsförmigen Produkten sehr niedrig. Dafür verantwortlich ist neben den insgesamt rückläufigen Renditen am Kapitalmarkt insbesondere eine Reihe staatlich verordneter Zertifizierungs- und Kalkulationsregeln. Der Wegfall von Wechselkosten, eine standardisierte Kosteninformation, eine inhaltlich bewertende statt einer formalen Zertifizierung und die Regulierung der Kalkulation sind dringend notwendige Strukturreformen. Empfohlen wird zudem eine Einschränkung der Zahl der Produkte. Angesichts der Defizite des Riester-Systems spricht vieles für ein grundsätzliches Überdenken in der Altersvorsorgepolitik. Dabei darf auch eine zielgerichtete Reduktion oder gar ein Wegfall der besonderen öffentlichen Förderung kein Tabu sein. Die eingesparten Steuergelder könnten zur Stärkung der umlagefinanzierten gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung verwendet werden

Zehn Jahre Riester-Rente: kein Grund zum Feiern

Die Riester-Rente beziehungsweise die einzelnen Riester-Produkte haben sich seit ihrer Einführung zuungunsten von Sparern verändert. Verträge, die heute abgeschlossen werden, führen oftmals zu einer geringeren Rendite als 2001 vereinbarte Verträge. Insgesamt sind die Renditen aus gesellschaftlicher Sicht, das heißt, die Rentenleistungen bezogen auf den Sparbeitrag des Einzelnen plus staatliche Zulage, bei allen versicherungsförmigen Produkten sehr niedrig. Dafür verantwortlich ist neben den insgesamt rückläufigen Renditen am Kapitalmarkt insbesondere eine Reihe staatlich verordneter Zertifizierungs- und Kalkulationsregeln. Der Wegfall von Wechselkosten, eine standardisierte Kosteninformation, eine inhaltlich bewertende statt einer formalen Zertifizierung und die Regulierung der Kalkulation sind dringend notwendige Strukturreformen. Empfohlen wird zudem eine Einschränkung der Zahl der Produkte. Angesichts der Defizite des Riester-Systems spricht vieles für ein grundsätzliches Überdenken in der Altersvorsorgepolitik. Dabei darf auch eine zielgerichtete Reduktion oder gar ein Wegfall der besonderen öffentlichen Förderung kein Tabu sein. Die eingesparten Steuergelder könnten zur Stärkung der umlagefinanzierten gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung verwendet werden.Private pension provision, Riester scheme, Funding principle, Welfare State

Microscopic Observation of Pauli Blocking in Degenerate Fermionic Lattice Gases

The Pauli exclusion principle is one of the most fundamental manifestations of quantum statistics. Here, we report on its local observation in a spin-polarized degenerate gas of fermions in an optical lattice. We probe the gas with single-site resolution using a new generation quantum gas microscope avoiding the common problem of light induced losses. In the band insulating regime, we measure a strong local suppression of particle number fluctuations and a low local entropy per atom. Our work opens a new avenue for studying quantum correlations in fermionic quantum matter both in and out of equilibrium.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure